HOLLYWOOD (Box Office Mojo) - X2: X-Men United took the nation by storm on its opening day.
The Marvel-ous mutants drew an estimated $32.5 million from a record 3,741 theaters on Friday, putting their weekend trajectory at around $90 million (which would be the fourth biggest ever and it could very well go higher).
If the estimate holds, the $100 million sequel will have the second biggest opening day of all time, ahead of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer Stone's $32,333,203 but behind Spider-Man. On the same weekend last year, the webslinger shattered all records on the books with its $39,406,872 opening day, leading to its unprecedented $114,844,116 weekend.
X2 also handily trounced summer 2001's kick-off The Mummy Returns, which unwrapped $23.4 million on its opening day and $68,139,035 for the weekend.
The first X-Men movie took in $21 million on its opening day in 2000, which would equal over $23 million today adjusted for ticket price inflation. It nabbed $54,471,475 for the weekend en route to $157,299,717. If X2 follows a similar pattern, it would end up with $250 million.
Meanwhile, The Lizzie McGuire Movie pulled in an estimated $5.7 million at 2,825 theaters on Friday, exhibiting a sizable fan base for Disney teen queen Hilary Duff. By comparison, What a Girl Wants starring Nickelodeon teen queen Amanda Bynes grabbed $3,501,180 on its opening day at 2,964 venues on its way to a $11,434,964 weekend. The $15 million McGuire is on track to do $18 million this weekend.
Developing... Stay tuned for the official weekend studio estimates on Sunday morning, followed by actual numbers on Monday afternoon and more X-Men coverage.