The summer’s third and final superhero film arrives this weekend as Hugh Jackman [HJACK] reprises his iconic role as The Wolverine [WOLV2]. The fan-favorite mutant appeared in The X-Men trilogy before getting his own stand-alone X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Although it opened with $85.1 million in May of 2009, the prequel fell off 69% in its second weekend signaling mass dissatisfaction. The sequel The Wolverine is set after 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand as Logan struggles with the death of Jean Grey and visits Japan for a cure to his fast-healing power. The competition has stayed clear of weekend, so The Wolverine only has to overcome the bad after taste left by the first film. Fox has generated mostly positive buzz through its marketing, though older fans may wait for word of mouth, which judging by reviews, should be better than the prequel. The Wolverine could claw its way to $70 million from 3924 locations.
After scoring the second best opening for an R-rated horror, The Conjuring [CNJUR] has held up during the week due to excellent word of mouth. The scary movie could hold 50% from its debut and bring home another $21 million.
Despicable Me 2 [DESM2] looks to break the $300 million mark with a fourth weekend haul of around $15 million. The overshadowed Turbo [TURB1] may drop 40% to $13 million in its second lap around the box office. With an older target audience, Red 2 [RED2] could hold better than 50% in its sophomore session and take in $10 million.
Fruitvale Station [FRTVL] expands wide into 1064 theaters after two weekends of limited release with the highest per theater average. The racially-charged drama based on a true story has earned critical acclaim as well as Oscar buzz. Fruitvale Station could tally $5 million.
After three weekend of limited release, The Way, Way Back [WAYBK] expands wide into 886 theaters. The PG-13 rated coming of age comedy could earn $3 million. The R-rated comedy The To Do List [TODOL] stars Aubrey Plaza [APLAZ] as a high school graduate experimenting with sex. Opening moderate wide in 591 theaters, The To Do List could check off $3 million.
That’s the whisper from the virtual trading floor.
Tag(s): HJACK, WOLV2, CNJUR, DESM2, TURB1, RED2, FRTVL, WAYBK, TODOL, APLAZ