There was no real competition this weekend for Fox's The Wolverine, which pulled in $55 million and earned an A- Cinemascore from audiences. It's a pretty respectable haul, but studio estimates had been projecting as high as $80 million, so it may be seen as a slight disappointment, although it's right in line with the opening of the last X-Men movie, First Class from two years ago. The film also opened to $86 million overseas, which is actually a franchise record, for a worldwide total of $141 million, so really the movie is a success any way you look at it.
Last week's The Conjuring held well for $22 million this week, amassing $83 million and passing Saw's $72 million total from director James Wan. In third place, Despicable Me scored another $16 million and has now passed $300 million in its fourth week- on track to become the second biggest movie of the year, after Iron Man 3. The rest of the top 5 rounds out with Turbo and Grown Ups 2, the latter passing $100 million to become yet another Adam Sandler vehicle to pass that mark.
Top 5:
- The Wolverine- $55 million
- The Conjuring- $22 million
- Despicable Me 2- $16 million
- Turbo- $13 million
- Grown Ups 2- $11.5 million
In limited release news, Fruitvale Station expanded to 1000 theaters this week and cracked the top ten, with $4.7 million. This is possibly due to the recent topicality surrounding the film's subject matter, which has heightened interest in the material and given it a higher profile. And Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine opened in NY and LA this weekend to a scorching per theater average of $102K. The movie's set to expand further in coming weeks, so be on the lookout for it. Next week August kicks off with Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg in 2 Guns vs. The Smurfs 2.
