Memorial Day Weekend Box-Office Update: ‘X-Men’ Tops ‘Alice’ Amid Johnny Depp Scandal

When the weather gets hot, people head indoors to the movies. And this weekend, they're mostly seeing "X-Men: Apocalypse."

The new "X-Men flick," the ninth in the franchise, was the top-earning movie in theaters this weekend. "X-Men: Apocalypse," starring James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence and Oscar Isaac, brought in $65 million in North America alone, according to comScore data.

In second place was "Alice Through the Looking Glass," the sequel to producer Tim Burton's 2010 film about the Lewis Carroll character. "Alice Through the Looking Glass" sold about $28.1 million in tickets; its predecessor, "Alice in Wonderland," wound up grossing more than $1 billion, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Entertainment Weekly noted that industry experts thought "Alice" was going to have a roughly $66 million debut weekend. But it received bad reviews, and just before its release star, Johnny Depp was accused of physically abusing his wife, Amber Heard.

“It’s a disappointing result,” Disney distribution chief Dave Hollis told the Associated Press. “We have embarked on a branded tent-pole strategy that makes big bets. But when you make big bets, there are times when you have results that are disappointing.”

Coming in at No. 3 was "The Angry Birds Movie," which took the top spot last week. It earned about $18.7 million, followed by "Captain America: Civil War" at $15.1 million, according to comScore data. "Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising" rounded out the top five movies with about $9.1 million.

The numbers were preliminary and will rise when ticket sales from Monday's national holiday are included.

This time last year, "Tomorrowland" was the top movie, bringing in about $41.7 million, followed by "Pitch Perfect 2" and "Max Max: Fury Road," according to Entertainment Weekly.