The Wolverine's opening weekend in the US was strong enough to place it at the number one position in the charts, but its ranking doesn't quite tell the full story. Its estimated American gross of $55 million was decent but not overwhelming; Hugh Jackman's previous solo outing in the role, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, garnered a much higher $85.1 million, for example.
The Wolverine's US takings were more on a par with other X-Men movies, the 2000 original and last year's First Class, which both earned about $55 million in the same period. Considering James Mangold's movie deliberately went for a relatively small-scale movie rather than a Man Of Steel-proportioned extravaganza, it's not a bad figure at all.
At the international box office, meanwhile, The Wolverine really took off. Pulling in $85.3 million, it's the biggest opening of any X-Men movie to date, with particularly good numbers coming in from Russia and the UK. This means that, with a combined gross of $141.1 million so far, it's already covered its $120 million budget. Given that The Wolverine had to fight against its franchise connection to the poorly-received X-Men Origins: Wolverine, those numbers will surely come as a relief to Fox.
What's more, The Wolverine has yet to open in what will surely be its key territory: Japan. With much of the movie set in that country, and featuring a largely Japanese cast outside its lead, it's fairly sure to get a warm reception from cinemagoers.
Hollywood has become increasingly aware of the importance of international success in recent years, and The Wolverine is yet another reminder that a hit overseas can more than make up for a modest take on home soil.
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This movie was just horrible..many of times it was just like "what?!" The coolest part was Silver Samurai and even that was lame. Xmen Origins: Wolverine was way better!