All that gloom-and-doom shit over whether “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” would be affected by the biggest blockbuster leak in film history can be put to rest. The mutant-powered spinoff, which was advertised to look nearly as unwatchable and embarrassing as it actually was, still managed $87 million to register the year’s biggest opening. We guess some might make points regarding how the box office might have been bigger sans piracy- the first weekend of May is usually home to a knockout debut that kickstarts the season, but “Wolverine”‘s bow is lower than last year’s near-$100 million opening for “Iron Man” and ’07’s then-best-ever $151 mil. start for “Spider-Man 3.” It also doesn’t approach “X-Men: The Last Stand”‘s $102 million opening. What do these movies have in common? They were all heavily front-loaded, with the last X-chapter dropping 67% the next weekend despite it’s competition only being “The Break-Up.” Wolvie’s got “Star Trek” to face next weekend, which is a tad more imposing, not to mention the specter of deservedly toxic word of mouth. Nevertheless, we’ve been wrong about terrible movies making money before, so…
But hey, not everything is a loss. Audiences finally said no to Matthew McConaughey, as “Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past” registered a soft $15.3 million opening. Chick flicks in the summer tend to have legs, so this might not be as dunzo as the first few days suggest, but as far as his romantic comedies, this is his lowest debut since “The Wedding Planner” took in $13.5 million in ’01. Falling to third was last weekend’s winner “Obsessed,” which lost 57% of its opening booty to bring in $12.2 million worth of sassy, angry single women. At #4 was “17 Again” which is closing in on $50 mil. total, while “Monsters Vs. Aliens” held on at #5, again posting the lowest percentage loss in the top ten. With $5.8 million, it’s run its total to $182 million with almost a whole month to go before Pixar’s “Up” and is safely ahead of the pack as the year’s most successful movie. It needed to have massive legs after the underwhelming opening weekend and, hey, it has. Good for… somebody.
Speaking of CGI toons, the new “Battle For Terra” went the way of “Delgo” this weekend, debuting at #12 with $1.1 million with a per screen average of $916 per screen. It just barely beat out “Taken,” which is in its 14th week of release. In smaller news, “The Limits Of Control” busted heads in limited release, pulling in $54 thou in only three screens, bested only by the 24-theater release of “A Merry Gentleman,” which brought in $72,200 in its first three days- not stellar, and most likely soon to be topped by “Control”‘s coming expansion.
1. X-Men Origins: Knifey Stabby- $87 million
2. Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past- $15.3 million
3. O NO U DI’INT- $12.2 million ($47 million)
4. Matthew Perry’s Delusions- $6.4 million ($49 million)
5. Monsters Vs. Aliens- $5.8 million ($182 million)
6. The Soloist- $5.6 million ($18 million)
7. Earth- $4.2 million ($22 million)
8. Fighting- $4.2 million ($18 million)
9. Hannah Montana: The Movie- $4.1 million ($71 million)
10. State Of Play- $3.7 million ($31 million)