Entertainment
'The Wolverine' Tops Box Office but How Does It Compare to Other 'X-Men' Openers?
Big news: A big summer blockbuster movie made a lot of money this weekend! The Wolverine came out on top at the box office this weekend with $55 million, which actually is pretty big news in a summer of big-budget blockbuster flops like Pacific Rim, White House Down and R.I.P.D. But The Wolverine already had an advantage, being both a superhero movie and descended from a long line of X-Men blockbusters — so how does it stack up against its movie brethren?
'The Wolverine'
Big news: A big summer blockbuster movie made a lot of money this weekend! The Wolverine came out on top at the box office this weekend with $55 million, which actually is pretty big news in a summer of big-budget blockbuster flops like Pacific Rim, White House Down and R.I.P.D. But The Wolverine already had an advantage, being both a superhero movie and descended from a long line of X-Men blockbusters — so how does it stack up against its movie brethren?
'X-Men Origins: Wolverine'
Although the film was pretty universally panned, it opened to a much bigger audience reception than the more critically-praised The Wolverine: X-Men Origins: Wolverine
took in $85 million on its opening weekend.
'X-Men: First Class'
Ah, 2011. Back when blockbusters could be action-packed, critically acclaimed, and make decent money. X-Men: First Class may not have been the most lucrative of the series, but it still managed to bring in a respectable $55 million its opening weekend.
'X-Men: The Last Stand'
X-Men: The Last Stand got a big "meh" from critics, but opened to $102 million in its first weekend -- a figure that turned out to the the franchise's high point, one that it has tried (and failed) to replicate ever since.
'X2'
The movie had a pretty positive critical reception and opened to a cool $85 million its first weekend.
'X-Men'
The original at first seemed hardly enough to build an entire franchise on. While the original X-Men movie released in 2000 garnered positive (but not rave) reviews and opened to $54 million, it's hardly the most successful of the franchise by any means. But the movie came out at the beginning of a decade defined by the infinite marketability of comic book superhero movies, and thus a franchise (and the discovery of Hugh Jackman's abs) was born.
'X-Men: Days of Future Past'
So what does this mean for the 2014 powerhouse that will bring together both the original cast and the cast of First Class? The Wolverine may not have lived up to its box office predictions, but it's clearly generated enough buzz to get to the top of the box office. That sets up Days of Future Past, which is already generating hype, to be one of the biggest blockbusters of summer 2014.
