Wolverine Claws to a Savage $87 Million

The ComingSoon.net Box Office Report has been updated with studio estimates for the weekend.

Despite worries of a workprint that leaked a month ago and generally weak reviews, 20th Century Fox's prequel X-Men Origins: Wolverine, starring Hugh Jackman, brought in an estimated $87 million its opening weekend in over 4,000 theaters, averaging over $21 thousand per site. It is the third-largest opening for a May/summer kick-off blockbuster, surpassing the opening weekend gross of Bryan Singer's X2 six years back (at least based on estimates), but falling short of the openings for Spider-Man and last year's Iron Man.

The New Line romantic comedy Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, starring Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner and Michael Douglas, hoped to offer some counter-programming to the superhero prequel, but it only brought in an estimated $15.3 million in 3,175 theatres, settling for second place with slightly more than Sony's Made of Honor grossed opening against Iron Man the same weekend last year.

The Screen Gems thriller Obsessed, starring Idris Elba, Beyoncé Knowles and Ali Larter, plunged 57% in its second weekend to third place with $12.2 million and a ten-day gross of $47 million (Not bad for a movie whose production budget was less than half that amount.)

Meanwhile, the New Line comedy 17 Again starring Zac Efron dropped to fourth place with $6.3 million and $48 million total.

DreamWorks Animation's Monsters vs. Aliens continues to do decently, as the highest-grossing film of the year so far moved past the other three new movies from last week to take 5th place with $5.8 million and a cumulative gross of $185 million.

DreamWorks' The Soloist, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx, held up the best from last week, dropping to sixth with $5.6 million, followed by Disneynature's Earth and Rogue Pictures' Fighting, both with $4.2 million.

Opening outside the Top 10, the independently-produced CG animated film Battle for Terra (Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions), brought in just over a million dollars in 1,162 theaters, averaging less than a thousand dollars per venue.

The Top 10 grossed roughly $148 million, which is down slightly from the summer-opening weekend last May, where Marvel Studios' Iron Man ruled over all with its $100 million opening weekend.