Well since X3 had the second highest opening say EVER (After Revenge Of The Sith) then I guess that the mentality they have is fine.
And I quite liked The Punisher. Very underrated and one of the better Marvel movies.
Read bob barron's post. X3 will be lucky to make back it 210 million dollar budget. Hulk had the same problem. Once word got out that the movie blew, it finished at 120 million, which is exactly how much it cost to make the movie in the first place. This is not good news in the least.
X3 is 4th, not 2nd highest.
$210 million budget?! X1 was $75m and X2 was $110m. Fox's faith in Ratner over Singer is rather disturbing. I guess all those explosions don't come cheap, though.
2nd highest opening day gross and 4th highest opening weekend gross.