"The Wolverine", a spinoff of the X-Men, was right on course and may have one of the best openings for the summer season. Early prediction for the movie was placed at US$80 million. If achieved, The Wolverine would put an end to big-budget losses of Hollywood films.
However, Friday ticket sales saw a slowing down. At this pace, the estimates went down US$63 million for the weekend after earning US$4 million from late Thursday shows. This was US$2 million below the initial projections of Fox at US$65 million.
Four years earlier, another X-Men spinoff, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine", opened at US$85.1 million. The film grossed US$373.1 million globally. It seemed that producers were looking at "The Wolverine" to revitalize the X-Men series. The spinoff also served to provide a link between the 2011's "X-Men: First Class" and next year's "X-Men: Days of Future Past".
"X-Men: First Class" earned US$296,339,528, which was the smallest earnings the X-Men franchise got so far. "X2: X-Men United" of 2003 and "X-Men: The Last Stand" of 2006 were the franchise's best performers to date. X2 earned US$407,711,527 while The Last Stand earned $459,359,888. "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" of 2009 and First Class both hit the US$3 million mark at US$373,058,714 and US$352,597,895, respectively.
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