1998’s “Blade” was also a decent hit for an R-rated vampire flick and, in turn, made this movie possible. All the same, superhero cinema as we know it is probably best measured by what came before “X-Men” and what came after. When we talk about watershed moments in the history of popular cinema, this is one for the ages. It was itself a big hit, but billions upon billions of box office dollars were made on its back.
In this weeks’ Tales from the Box Office, we’re looking back at “X-Men” in honor of its 25th anniversary. We’ll go over how it came to be, how Marvel had struggled to find mainstream success prior to this moment, how it differentiated itself from other superhero movies, what happened when it hit theaters, what happened in the aftermath of its release, and what lessons we can learn from it all these years later. Let’s dig in, shall we?
