‘Magic Mike XXL’ Box Office Confirms Thirst For Channing’s Tatum


The numbers are in for Magic Mike XXL‘s opening weekend in the US, and they are simultaneously surprising and not at all surprising, confirming a strong thirst for a possible glimpse of Channing Tatum‘s unit among female movie-goers.

In fact, exit polls (hah) from the movie, which opened in the US in time for the Fourth of July weekend, found that a staggering 96% of audience members were female. 
It’s not quite clear whether that’s a record, but it’s still a whole lot of ladies lining up for Tatum’s oiled-up rig, up from 73% when the first Magic Mike opened back in 2012. 
That said, overall numbers were a bit flaccid. Magic Mike XXL made $US 27.1 million in its first five days in the US, opening in fourth place, compared with $US 39.1 million for the first film. 
This could be because the original was marketed as eye candy but delivered only a little taste of that, amidst a fairly low-key, dramatic storyline, scaring viewers off a second time around.
Still, with a budget of just $US 14.8 million, the film’s world-wide gross of $US 32 million and counting means it’s already super profitable, and they could probably just keep churning out more, Paranormal Activity-style. 
While Magic Mike XXL could be considered a success on those terms, the same can’t be said of Terminator: Genisys, which opened in third place overall in the US, behind Inside Out and Jurassic World, which is still holding on to number one.
Terminator cost $US 155 million to make, but pulled in just $US 44.1 million in its opening days, which, for a film of this size and scale, is basically the equivalent of a liquid metal arm through the noggin. 
With worldwide box office taken into account, Terminator currently sits at a total gross of $US 129.6 million, meaning that, if nothing else, those sequels will happen. 
They probably won’t open spitting distance of the next Jurassic World instalment, though.
Magic Mike XXL is out Thursday July 9 in Australia. Terminator: Genisys, Jurassic World and Inside Out are out now.

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