Twentieth Century FoxMaybe Wolverine should thank the Academy. And Hugh Jackman.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine rose above everything from swine flu to playoff basketball to gross $87 million at the weekend box office, its studio estimated. The debut was the year's biggest, and the fourth-biggest ever for a summer-season opener.
"We've had a lot of hurdles to overcome with his movie," 20th Century Fox's Chris Aronson said today. "At the end of the day, audiences have a huge appetite for Hugh."
And was that appetite whetted by Jackman's appearance as Oscar host?
"What other explanation is there?" Aronson asked. "That turn just made him that much more appealing."
Especially among women.
More than the previous three X-Men films, Aronson said, Wolverine's audience split almost evenly along gender lines: 53 percent of moviegoers were men; 47 percent were women.
And apparently fond of superheroes who can sing, dance and duet nicely with Anne Hathaway.
Drilling down into the numbers:
• In foreign countries, minus swine-flu-stricken Mexico, natch, Wolverine took in $73 million, Fox reported. After three days, the reputedly $130 million movie's worldwide haul stands at $160 million.
• Wolverine's string of bad breaks, not including bad reviews, included: a leaked print, the swine-flu outbreak, and, the Chicago Bulls pushing the Boston Celtics into a Game 7 playoff game. The last one was the most recent wrinkle. According to Aronson, Wolverine's box office was down 32 percent in Chicago last night as the Bulls played the Celtics. In victorious Boston, business was down 21 percent.
• Audiences seemed fully aware of Wolverine's bad buzz. But, in the end, per Fox's exit polling, nearly half of all moviegoers said the film was better than they expected.
• Among summer-season starters, Wolverine ranks behind Spider-Man 3 ($151.1 million), Spider-Man ($114.8 million), and last year's Iron Man ($98.6 million).
• Among X-Men movies, unadjusted for inflation, Wolverine ranks behind only X-Men: The Last Stand ($102.8 million).