'X-Men' is first in the box-office class

One thing is for sure: "X-Men: First Class" is the No. 1 movie at the U.S. box office this weekend by a long shot.

The 1960s-set prequel to the previous "X-Men" films earned an estimated $56 million in its first three days. It continued its solid performance from Friday and finished slightly above forecasts that had the movie making $50 million to $55 million.

So that's good, right? To our minds, yes. But there have been rumblings that the movie, even in meeting expectations, is a mild disappointment when compared to other Marvel films. EW called Friday's $21 million take "underwhelming," while The Wrap labeled the box office "solid if unspectacular."

20th Century Fox, which released the movie, was hoping for something around what the first "X-Men" movie made in 2000 ($54.4 million), and it got exactly that.

The rest of the weekend's top movies all bumped down one spot from last week. "The Hangover Part II" earned an estimated $32.4 million to finish second, pushing its total to just under $187 million. "Kung Fu Panda 2" was third with $24.3 million, followed by "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" ($18 million) and "Bridesmaids" ($12.1 million). "Kung Fu Panda 2" and "Bridesmaids" both pushed over the $100 million mark.

Overall, this weekend's box office is estimated at $163 million, a big improvement over the same weekend last year ($128.8 million).

The weekend's Top 10 movies:

1. "X-Men: First Class," $56 million
2. "The Hangover Part II," $32.4 million
3. "Kung Fu Panda 2," $24.3 million
4. "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides," $18 million
5. "Bridesmaids," $12.1 million
6. "Thor," $4.2 million
7. "Fast Five," $3.2 million
8. "Midnight in Paris," $2.9 million
9. "Jumping the Broom," $865,000
10. "Something Borrowed," $835,000