'X-Men: First Class' dominates Friday box office

"X-Men: First Class" got off to a solid start at the box office Friday (June 3), earning an estimated $21 million on its opening day.

Friday's figures (which include $3.4 million in midnight screenings) put the movie, which has earned mostly positive reviews, on pace for a weekend take in the $50 million-$55 million range. That's in line with most forecasts and the expectations of studio 20th Century Fox, which was hoping for something similar to the $54 million the first "X-Men" movie made back in 2000.

"X-Men: First Class" is the only big new release this weekend, and so far it's leading the pack by a pretty wide margin. Last weekend's leader "The Hangover Part II" took a pretty steep (and not unexpected) drop, earning $9.3 million on Friday.

"Kung Fu Panda 2" ($6.2 million), "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" ($4.9 million) and "Bridesmaids" ($3.5 million) rounded out the top five on Friday.