X–Men 2 claws its way to the top in $155m opener

THE science fiction sequel X-Men 2 has made the most money ever for a film on its opening weekend.

It earned over $155 million worldwide in just four days as the lure of special effects, Halle Berry and a Marvel comic storyline proved the right combination for fans.

In Ireland the film grossed over than €1.09m since its opening on Friday night, making it one of the most lucrative opening weekends for any film shown here. It was screened in 74 locations across the north and south.

The weekend total figures are almost double what the first film made around the world.

X-Men 2 leapt straight to the top of the North American box office charts, taking about $85.8m, which is the fourth highest opening on record.

The film, which cost about $110m to make, stars Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Sir Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart.

According to Twentieth Century Fox, after an unprecedented worldwide opening in 93 markets, X-Men 2 has become a huge blockbuster.

“In just five days of release, the film has tallied a phenomenal $69,270,853 overseas, which, combined with its sensational North American opening ($85,558,731), totals an astounding $154,829,584 worldwide, marking the biggest opening weekend worldwide gross of all time,” said a spokesperson.

But eagle-eyed viewers have already noticed more than 40 mistakes in the smash hit movie. Vanishing bodies, disappearing documents and glasses refilling themselves are among a host of errors submitted by fans to www.moviemistakes.com.

In one scene, when Magneto kills a number of soldiers in an underground tunnel, the bodies are strewn all over the place.

But when Nightcrawler, Storm and the rest of the X-Men arrive on the scene, the bodies have miraculously been tidied away.

And when Wolverine ties up one of the baddies against the chopper, he just wraps the chain around his chest. But when the evil-doer tries to escape his chains, his hands are tied behind his back.

The number of mistakes in X-Men 2 equals that of the first film, according to the website.

The mutant super heroes may have a fight on their hands to retain their record take with a number of long-awaited sci-fi sequels due out this summer.