Have you seen "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" yet? It seems people are all over it. This is impressive considering the "leaked" version that came out. Maybe Wolverine is the best there is at what he does. Reports have the movie bringing in $35 million on Friday. This includes just under $5 million from the midnight showings.
Original speculation placed Wolverine at $85 million for the weekend. It looks like that could be possible. The estimate is now being placed at $90 million. Iron Man earned $39 million it's opening Friday. Things are looking good for our favorite hairy mutant.
Could the 'multiple endings' have anything to do with it? I enjoyed the movie but didn't think it was great. I don't really see people wanting to see this twice in one weekend. I have seen a couple online at some "news" sites (and they were quickly removed of course).
What it comes down to, a strong opening like this is important for Wolverine and comic book movies in general. The bigger the openings are, the more likely studios will be to invest in future comic book/superhero movies. That is another reason to not support illegal downloading of movies. With this movie doing well, perhaps we will see a sequel and get to see Wolverine in Japan (as was seen in one of the multiple endings, sorry if I 'spoiled' things). This will also make it possible for us to see other characters adapted for the big screen. Hopefully it won't give studios the idea that they can just throw any script together and make a shoddy superhero movie.
The other thing to think about for Wolverine is next weekend. Regardless of a movie's opening weekend, the following weekend is also closely analyzed. If it drops by a huge amount, it can be considered somewhat of a failure. Next weekend Star Trek opens. That could be bad news for Wolverine. He's already had problems taking on Spock in the past.
