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SUNDAY AM: Here are Fox's final figures for the franchise prequel X-Men Origins: Wolverine -- $35M on Friday (including $5 million in midnight shows), $29.7M on Saturday, and an estimated $22.2M for Sunday. That makes for an $87M weekend -- better than the 1st and 2nd installments in the X-Men franchise, but well behind the 3rd. That's certainly good enough to warrant another Wolverine.
In 2nd place, New Line/Warner Bros' Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past debuted to a less-than-satisfying $15.3M weekend.
Here's the Top 10:
1. Wolverine (Fox) OPENER [4,099 Theaters] $87M Wkd
2. Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past (NL/WB) OPENER [3,175] $15.3 Wkd
3. Obsessed (SG/Sony) [2,514] WEEK 2, $12.2M Wkd (-57%), Cume $47M
4. 17 Again (NL/WB) [3,255] WEEK 3, $6.3M Wkd, Cume $48.4M
5. Monsters v Aliens (DWA/Par) WEEK 6, [2,626] $5.8M Wkd, Cume $182.4M
6. The Soloist (DW/Par) [2,033] WEEK 2, $5.6M Wkd (-42%), Cume $18.1M
7. Earth (Disney) [1,804] WEEK 2, $4.1M Wkd (-53%), Cume $21.8M
8. Fighting (Rogue/Uni) [2,312] WEEK 2, $4.1M Wkd (-62%), Cume $17.5M
9. Hannah Montana (Disney) [2,819] WEEK 4, $4M Wkd, Cume $70.8M
10. State of Play [2,445] WEEK 3, $3.6M Wkd, Cume $30.8M
SATURDAY 9 PM: Sources tell me that Fox's X-Men Origins: Wolverine made about $31 million Saturday so the weekend should top out at $89M. In 2nd place, New Line/Warner Bros' Ghosts of Girlfriends Past earned $6.2M Saturday for a $16M weekend. And No. 3 goes to Screen Gems / Sony's Obsessed with $5.7M Saturday for a $13M weekend and new cume of $47.5M.
SATURDAY AM: Even rival studios are saying it's possible for the franchise prequel X-Men Origins: Wolverine to scoop up $90M this weekend if moviegoing stays strong, though a safer bet might be $85M. (Photos by Jim Stevenson: 9:45 PM show at Vista Theatre in Los Feliz.)
FRIDAY 10 PM UPDATE: Sources tell me that Fox's X-Men Origins: Wolverine had a stunning $35 million debut Friday thanks in part to heavy attendance at tonight's shows and the studio's widest release ever into 4,099 theaters. That includes the $5 million midnight shows at 2,000 venues.) Comparables include Iron Man, which made $39M its opening Friday, and Fast & Furious which earned $30.5M.
In 2nd place is New Line/Warner Bros' Ghosts of Girlfriends Past which debuted with $5.8M Friday for a projected weekend total somewhere around $15M.
FRIDAY 10:15 AM: I'm told that unofficial estimates for Thursday midnight / Friday 12:01 AM screenings at 2,000 theaters have Fox's X-Men Origins: Wolverine opening to close to $5 million, which is a good start. Besides the widest release in Fox history into 4,099 North American venues, the studio will be showing the prequel on 9,000+ prints in 101 markets internationally (excluding Mexico, India, and Japan. So the summer movie season is on!
Already, rival studios are telling me that New Line/Warner Bros' Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past is running behind Maid Of Honor which opened to $14.7M on the same weekend last year. "McDreamy trumps Dirk Pitt?"
Fandango reports that Wolverine was scooping up 81% of all online ticket sales as of 9 AM with the buyers averaging 48%/51% women/men. Also, 72% said Hugh Jackman was the most significant factor in prompting them to buy a ticket. But MovieTickets.com says that yesterday Wolverine trailed ticket sales for Transformers by 2-to-1 at the same point in the sales cycle.
THURSDAY PM: Well, with Internet piracy, swine flu, NBA and NHL playoffs, lousy reviews... what did you expect the weekend total for X-Men Origins: Wolverine to be? Interestingly, Twentieth Century Fox this week lowered its 3-day estimate from $80M to $75M for the Hugh Jackman starrer. (Could he have gotten his body any buffer? Even Jackman's wife told the press she thought his 8-pack abs were "ridiculous".) But rival studios still think it's possible for Wolverine to do Iron Man-like $100+M numbers. Besides, the first weekend in May always proves lucky for the first summer blockbuster out of the gate. So probably the real figure lies somewhere inbetween, like $85M.
Then again, even fanboys are no longer expecting a big fat debut along the order of the 2006 threequel X-Men 3: The Last Stand's $102.7M, and predict it'll be more like the 2003 sequel X-Men 2: United's $85.5M. (They cost $210+M and $110+M, respectively.) For those keeping score, X-Men opened to $54.4M back in 2000.
Meanwhile, Hollywood keeps underestimating the drawing power of what is now a string of "It's Me, Not You" relationship pics from New Line /Warner Bros, mostly because they're nauseating. This weekend's counterprogramming of the Matthew McConaughey-Jennifer Garner starring Ghosts of Girlfriends Past should reach $18M and maybe even get to $20M if female moviegoers don't get spooked by swine flu.
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I’ll take the over.
nah…. I say 70
*If* Wolverine’s b.o. numbers aren’t exciting, there’s nothing to blame but the movie itself – it’s not exciting, either. Plus, the leak was an inside job, so who’s the pirate in that scenario? Perhaps said insider wanted the studio to take a hard look at Wolverine and the reactions to the work print? Who knows. It will still open # 1 in all markets.
I watched it – in the movie theater – and in between action scenes spent time wondering why this flick simply doesn’t work. During one action sequence I also wondered why it didn’t work (bland). I got slightly bored.
Where’s the high concept? Where’s the strong motivation that drives every scene from beginning to end? For the most part, the other chars were far more interesting, had more fun powers than Wolverine, the “good brother”. Did you know that all it takes to stop two brothers from killing each other is to say – hey, we’re brothers!? OMG. Weak, weak story.
Taken, Gran Torino etc. were online in perfect DVD/Screener quality and still made excellent b.o. (remember those leaked “for your consideration” screeners of quite a number of Oscar contenders? Who were the pirates in that case? And whatever happened with that case?)
Maybe the fact that the film stinks also plays a role?
Not according to FOX, of course.
My guess is that it hits $80M.
$75m is surprisingly high for a movie that quite frankly looks like an all around dud and is following a largely hated franchise entry (X-men 3).
“Wolverine” is a terrible movie, little substance and depth and felt horribly rushed. Jackman, Schreiver, and Huston are terrific, but they deserved a much better script (and if the on-set conflicts between Gavin Hood and Fox were true, Hood deserves the blame).
For all of its studio interference, “X-Men 3″ was better. But like in X-Men 3, Taylor Kitsch was terrific as Gambit but only in 10-15 minutes of the movie like Ben Foster’s Angel.
“Wolverine” was a big disappointment. Avoid it if you can.
Saw this last night. Same your dimes. Awful dreck. Even for what should have been a ‘turn your brain off’ comic book flick.
It continues to amaze me how a conglomerate of talented people when working together towards a common goal can produce a soulless work devoid of any value.
It will still make a mint. But that’s because the LCD laps this kind of stuff up regardless of what the word of mouth is. The fall off on this will be tremendous.
If the sellouts last night and the response is any indication, despite the movie being probably the worst in the franchise, it’s going to do a lot above that. I hope not as I’m pulling for Trek, but I think X3 numbers are not out of line.
Boy, this is really a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation for movie fans.
If Wolverine does well, then Tom Rothman will consider his excessively hands-on approach to the filmmaking process to be completely vindicated, and we’ll never see a decent TCF summer movie again.
If Wolverine does poorly, Rothman (and other studio heads) will declare an end to comic book movies and focus 100% of their time and money on adapting mediocre teen novels.
What a shame it would be if Ghost of Girlfriends Past made more than $22 at the box office. Jesus, it looks terrible in every single way a movie can be terrible.
My favorite moment of there entire ad campaign was when MM on Regis & Kelly and Kelly tried to act like the premise was the most original thing she’s ever heard.
She earned her entire paycheck in that one segment.
$76 million. The leak didn’t hurt it that much (only fanboys stole it, and they’ll pay to see it anyway), but swine flu will cost it $8-10 million. Unfortunately, it won’t get a second chance at those flu-phobic viewers next weekend, as “StarTrek” will be huge with legs.
Kevin, don’t knock a movie til you see it, please, idiot.
Saw Wolverine. Didn’t care for it but the theater was filled to the brim. Gotta change my expectation unfortuantely…. it’ll probably do $95.
If you have the patience though, check out Limits of Control. Kinda cool in a super trippy way.
Ghosts is a great script! Hopefully the public thinks the same. Although I’m not too sure about Michael Douglas playing a pimp, or McConahey for that matter.
H1N1 will keep some of the non fanboys away so I would go with lower estimates.
Hugh Jackman is a big star though and should be allowed to do other types of parts that are less “spandex”.
“If Wolverine does poorly, Rothman (and other studio heads) will declare an end to comic book movies and focus 100% of their time and money on adapting mediocre teen novels.”
What do you mean, other studio heads? Fox and Rothman are the only ones that should be worrying about how poorly they’re treating the comic-book fans and the general audience. And they’ve been on a downward spiral for almost a decade… they need a shakeup more than anything.
Pascal, Horn, and Maisel aren’t going to be worrying about the profitability of their Spidey, Batman and Iron Man franchises any time — we’ll still see superhero/comic book movies for at least five more years. And unlike Fox, most of their superhero films aren’t always about banging out a cheap buck.
Tom Rothman really needs a creative soul check or an intervention. Its not funny anymore. This guy gives movies a bad name. The slate coming out of the Fox hen will be judged as some of the most lamest movies ever produced. It’s literally gotten to the point where if I see a Fox logo in front of a trailer my eyes will just roll with prejudgement for the worst. There’s no doubt in my mind that he single-handedly drove the direction of Wolverine behind the scenes. There’s just no other way to explain the suckage.
It’ll make money in the long run because that’s what the common denominators want, just check your brain at the door fast food entertainment, ‘want your fries with your Wolverine?’ Fox has literally become the McDonalds of Hollywood. It’s all by the numbers. Hit your beats here, hit it there, keep it moving and then you’ll have a hit according to asshole douchebag Tom Rothman.
In reference to my earlier post. No one sets out to make a bad movie that’s why I can’t blame Gavin Hood or Hugh Jackman for coming out with such an empty product. This is just another long line of examples illustrating studio note driven dreck.
If Wolverine does hit those high numbers, I predict it’ll drop by a LARGE percentage the following weekend (60-70% drop, anyone?)
Who cares?
Kirk comes into town next week and kicks Logan’s adamantium ass all the way back to Canada.
Leland, let me tell you a secret:
You don’t always need to sit through an entire movie to know it’s going to be bad. I don’t eat dog shit because common sense tells me that it will taste like dog shit.
Ghost of Girlfriends Past is a bad movie. But judging by your rhetoric, I’m sure someone like you will enjoy the movie just fine.
Yes, seriously, why are you bashing a movie you haven’t even seen Kevin? The utter snarkiness in this town never ceases to amaze me.
And “P. Black” neither Michael Douglas or McConaughey plays a pimp.
Douglas is a playboy type, ala Bob Evans, and McConaughey a womanizing photographer.
It’s a really good movie, you should all go see it.
Saw Wolverine and it’s top notch 9/10 in my book. Stop crying you wussies, they got it done.
Next Thursday cannot come soon enough. Spock is about to drop some logic on a couple of mutants.
Kevin’s first post was hilarious and spot on.
Completely agree with Alboone & B Hebbessay.
I have never read the X-Men comics, but I was a big fan of the first two films in the series, which carried a remarkable storytelling sophistocation and emotional weight which most comic book films up to that time lacked for me. I was very excited for the third film and rushed out to see it despite Bryan Singer’s absence from the proceedings. I was disappointed to find that it sucked. There were some good ideas in there, but it was overstuffed and was unable to service either major story point (Dark Phoenix and the mutant cure) as throughly as it should have because each of them seemed significant enough to need its own film. The same problem happened with Spider-Man 3 a year later; because they originally signed the talent to three-picture deals, the studios get nervous when they reach the third installment and try unsuccessfully to cram so much in there “for the fans” that it results in a poorer film.
They need to just go ahead and shell out the cash for the stars to return for a fourth film. It will be expensive, but the way these films tend to gross, I’m sure it will end up profitable. Now Sony has ponied up the money to get McGuire (and probably Dunst) back for Spider-Man 4 anyway, which was inevitable. Had they done that before or during the production of the third, it would have freed the filmmakers up to do what they want without having to worry about giving us everything in the “last” salvo.
The fact that the ending of X3 essentially reverted everything that happened in it and rendered all that acrafice meaningless did not help matters either.
Because X3 was so bad, I approached Wolverine with more caution. The trailers look rather generic and do not give off the impression of the intelligence which was inherant in the storytelling of Bryan Singer’s two films, and the reviews confirm its absence. I did not download the workprint, and I’m still not sure if I care to go see the film. But it’s not about the workprint leak – it’s about the fact that the film sucks.
I imagine I will catch it eventually by means of rental, TV or some way where I don’t have to pay $9.50 for it…but I really do not care to miss it, and I think it is a terrible shame that the studio has deep-sixed such a quality franchise with such a bad film, which seems to be even more universally panned than X3.
I think that, as a result of X3’s bad rap, Wolverine will have a significantly lower opening than most people expect. Unadjusted, It wil probably equal or be slightly better than X2’s $85 milion (perhaps $90), but not as high as either X3 or Iron Man. Once more people have seen it and the bad buzz starts to grow, it will drop off quickly and end up with the lowest gross of the X-Men franchise by far, topping out at maybe $150m unadjusted if it is lucky. The buzz is just so extrodinarily negative, and there are much stronger films which will cater to the same audience coming up soon (first and foremost Star Trek, which begins its invasion Thursday night and will probably make enough from the 7pm night shows to be the #1 grosser Thursday.) So Wolverine is going to have a short day at the top.
If it were better, I think there could be room for the market to expand for both it and Star Trek (with it absorbing people who can’t get into Star Trek’s sold-out shows.) But now, it will just die.
The question is if Fox can ressucitate the franchise with a great next installment, or if they have killed it entirely.
They need to let do that rumored Magneto-going-after-Nazis prequel David Goyer was rumored to be developing, and also go beg Bryan Singer to come back and fix their mess with a proper X4. Grovel at his feet and get him back and maybe they will have a chance.
Maybe.
Thanks for the insight Kev,
I did see the movie this afternoon. It, for what it was, wasn’t bad at all.
I go see everything and go into each movie with different expectations. I don’t hold a romantic comedy like Ghosts to the same standard as something like Slumdog Millionaire which is something that, since we’re judging, based on your film-snobbish remarks, you probably do.
I like to be entertained and Ghosts achieved that for me.
Idiot.
I’m predicting a huge Saturday and Sunday drop off when pissed off people realize they spent money on a finished film that is virtually identical to the leaked workprint that is readily available on the street.
The movie is just so messy. I don’t understand how this got fucked up. It’s Wolverine. The movie is just so ridiculous. They make him indestructible only to chase him the rest of the film trying to kill him. Gimme a break. Also why so many other X-Men Characters forced into this? Most of it doesn’t follow comic book cannon. But whatever, I know movie adaptations are different, but this movie is a fucking diabolical mess.
Jackman is great, but this movie is beneath him. And I wonder who thought it would be a good idea to get Gavin Hood to direct a huge action movie? They would have probably been better off with Len Wiseman. He may be considered a huge time Hack to the geek community, but his Live Free of Die Hard had way better action sequences than Wolverine.
Hit the multiplex last night where too many loud teenagers were lining up for WOLVERINE.
I saw GIRLFRIENDS OF GHOSTS PAST, which just wasn’t that good, sorry to say. Great concept, and maybe even a solid script, but the film itself was…meh. A few good moments, Michael Douglas was fun. Should’ve had more of him. Just not sharp enough. Note the lameness involving the bridesmaids and their counterparts. Ugh.
On the other hand, also caught up this week with STATE OF PLAY, which was first-rate. Maybe people are sick of politics, but, except for the ending, which pushed it a bit too far, I thought it was terrific. Check it out.
Also OBSESSED, which was trashy fun. Like cinematic junk food, not good for you, but tasty nonetheless.
I really have to say that as awful to some of you as it may look — GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST IS A REALLY GOOD MOVIE. Surprisingly well written and heartfelt. There were more sold out screens for this movie than Wolverine but then wolverine was playing every half hour.
It is a great funny romantic comedy that many of you should check out.
Leland,
I was so wrong about Ghosts of Girlfriends Past! You mean it’s like a Christmas Carol with a romantic twist?! Where have I seen that before…? Was it an episode of Yes, Dear? Nah, it was just my rotting asshole.
The fact that you went out and enjoyed Ghosts of Girlfriends Past not only proves my point but now you just made it hilarious as well.
Thanks!
P.S. The Ugly Truth (starring America’s sweetheart Katherine Heigl!) is coming out in July! It’s about a male chauvinist pig who tries to help this uptight chick find love! Hmmm…I wonder how it all turns out? Make sure you get your tickets on Fandango (avoid those lines, Leland) and let us all know how the movie wasn’t actually that bad and it entertained you! Can’t wait!
Even with glowing reviews for Star Trek — I just don’t see it making past a 50 million opening — but probably with strong legs. This franchise has never seen anything higher has it? I don’t think anyone should expect 100 million because it will just be considered a disappointment and people shouldn’t since I hear that this movie is like the best movie to come along since butter.
I liked it in a dumb fun kind of way. It did exactly what it says on the package. But where does the franchise go from here? I don’t think a Magneto movie could notch the same kind of opening, and an XMen: First Class movie without Wolverine in it is equally dubious.
Ha! That guy in the Wolverine costume is the owner of the Vista Theater in Los Feliz. He dresses up for every blockbuster that screens at his theater.
What’s the point of this post? Oh yeah, support your single-screen theaters. They are fast becoming a relic.
I attended “Wolverine” last night to a packed out theater. Hadn’t been to an opening night movie in a LONG time. The audience enjoyed the movie as did I. But as an X-Men fan, it reminded me of the first one; rushed and hollow. Regardless, not surprised its heading for a $90 million opening.
Still wondering/cautiously optimistic about “Star Trek” because of its limited appeal. Casual movie fans call me a Trekkie for wanting to see the movie even though I have brief knowledge on the franchise.
Once again I agree with B Hennessay. Kir, Spock et al will kick some superhero ass next week.
And can somebody please tell me how the hell does Matthew McConaughey keep getting work? By my estimates, he should be a E! True Hollywood story on a “Whatever Happened to…” segment.
it’s a really bad movie. even worse than the universally reviled X-Men 3 if you can fathom it. i heard some of the comments from people on their way out and everybody was trashing it. i say bare minimum of a 70% drop next week. it will probably be totally gone from theatres by the time UP opens. i blame the inexperienced director because it was one of the most poorly construted tentpole releases i’ve seen in a while. this is never a good sign for the overall quality of the upcoming season when the movie that kicks it off stinks this bad.
Pretty impressive opening, especially when you consider what the film was up against: The core demographic having access to the film for an entire month, swine flu, and poor reviews. If nothing else, it shows that there is still an audience for Jackman’s portrayal of Wolverine.
Hopefully this places Logan’s Japan-based sequel on the frontburner, before the planned string of prequels really does put the nail in the franchise’s coffin.
I saw Wolverine twice yesterday in two different theaters … and the easter egg ending after the credits were done was DIFFERENT IN EACH THEATER!
The Vista! What a pleasant surprise to see my theater! Los Feliz represent!
It still sucks big time. 20 people in the first showing 5209. Rottentomatoes was right.
I hope Star Trek isn’t out for the money too.
If you liked this movie, you are an idiot.
“I liked it in a dumb fun kind of way. It did exactly what it says on the package.”
Comment by INterested Observer
ENOUGH WITH THE RATIONALES FOR FUCKS SAKE! By succumbing to the ‘dumb fun’ argument you’re just validating Rothman and his Fox brigade’s disdain for general audiences. Like most studios they think we’re stupid and will take whatever’s given to us, even if its shit on a stick. Transformers is dumb fun. Wolverine is just pathetic. Lazy plot contrivances up the wazoo.
Wolverine is so much more than dumb fun. His very makeup is inherently dramatic. Unknowingly killing his father. His brother being a psycho wildcat. Innocents who fall into his life somehow always perish. Feeiling ashamed of his rage filled tendencies. Amnesia. He is essentially living an existential conundrum. By far he’s more fucked up than any comic book character, even more so than Rorschach from Watchmen. To just reduce his story into action beat clips that make no sense whatsoever is just simply doing a disservice to his mythology and a giant wasted opportunity to tell an emotionally involving story.
As long as their are people like Leland around, studios will continue to make movies like Fool’s Gold, Ultraviolet, and Ghosts of Girlfriend’s Past. Leland, you are truly pathetic
My wife and I sat in the theater, watched the “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past” trailer, then had our first ever discussion about suicide.
The formula is so transparent – stupid movies for stupid people.
The “LEAK” makes me laugh. Memories from 2007 when Lionsgate, wait, back up…summer 2006 when Lionsgate threatened to not finance Hostel Part Two based on how bad the script was (the film was slightly better, not much) but Eli flexed his muscles owned by Tarantino and they went into production. An April release was planned, even all the posters said spring 2007 and then the ‘workprint’ leaked and they slotted Grindhouse in April and pushed Hostel to June.
The studio knew they had a stinker and Eli ranted and cried about how his film was being buried. Their recourse was with the leaked version so that people would maybe go to COMPARE & CONTRAST the two versions. Brilliant. Kudos to Tim Palen for that move.
The film blew chunks and one wonders where Mr. Press himself has been aka ‘the self-proclaimed king of horror’. Still love the deep seeded reasoning as to why Roth didn’t direct 1408. Creative differences? Puhlease…it’s a frickin’ Stephen King novella. How can anyone screw it up. Eli pissed where he drank and lost a gig.
But Wolverine has got to be better than the debacle of Ratner’s abortion of an X-Men film.
WONDERFUL MOVIE! Two easter eggs in the version I saw.
I found this movie better than 1 & 3 but maybe close or tie to 2.
any negative comments on this thread or by picayune fanboys does nt add up.
Nothing wrong with the portrayal of any of the characters in my opinion.
cheers & enjoy!!!
@ Tyler Perry is the Anti-Christ:
“Wolverine” is much worse than “X-Men 3″, believe me. The plot has a bit more depth, but the execution of the story blew chunks and felt like a shallow Michael Bay movie with Hugh Jackman in it. It’s a big step down from Bryan Singer and Ratner, believe me.
For all of its behind-the-scenes troubles, I think “X-Men 3″ is a lot more entertaining than “Wolverine,” even though that had plenty of studio interference too. At least Ratner did his best with a hurried, hodge-podge script and a rushed production schedule and made a competent action film from it. (I was fine with Ratner’s involvement, it was the script and Halle Berry’s demands that killed any potential for a good non-Singer X-Men sequel.)
“Wolverine” doesn’t even have good action sequences to make up for the plot defiences (well, aside from the brawl in Bourbon Street with Gambit).
Thought there is no doubt Wolverine will have a steep drop it’s second weekend I don’t think it’s going to be as steep as people think (hope) it will.
I can see the kids just lapping Wolverine up for the next few weeks the same way they did with rubbish like Fast&Furious.
But I’m glad to see that Bad Robot and their small army of viral marketeers are alive and well. Working their little socks off in these comments tirelessly
talking up Trek’s potential opening numbers.
Viva la Abrams!
The real question is how much money is the studio wasting paying idiots to post how Star Trek is going to blow everything away! They make the Watchmen fanboys seem sane by comparison.
I thought there were several very good action scenes.
every fight was great, and there were at least 5, that I can remember. And I cannot understand why the hate for the helicopter seen. It made sense in the flow & plot of the movie. also, I do not mind alot of action in a Wolverine movie.
as far as no character development, there was just enough for everyone, with Wolverine always being the center of attention. The scene with Wolverine and his girlfriend talking about a certain folk tale was very cool.
Dark Knight this is not but more like a Iron Man.
X3’s primary problem was the plain contempt it displayed for the two previous installments and its nonsensical (even hostile) treatment of key or beloved characters – the latter being a mistake they repeated again in Wolverine. It’s not nearly as bad a movie as it’s been made out to be but it does have some embarrassingly unfinished effects work and they forfeited another opportunity to establish some valuable goodwill that would translate into longevity/support beyond initial box office. They’ve made enough of these comic adaptations that were less than what were hoped for to see that there is something seriously borked in the creative process at this place. I hope they can deliver on the promise of the follow up hinted and actually take some of the criticisms levied at them to heart. People would love to see them make a movie to be embraced but this kind of pseudo contempt driving these productions is easy to read for the people that should be evangelizing for them.
I thought there were several very good action scene in the movie.
…every fight was great, and there were at least 5, that I can remember.
…I cannot understand why the hate for the helicopter scene. It made sense in the flow & plot of the movie. It was one of the best I have scene. also, I do not mind alot of action in a Wolverine movie. He is more of an action character than Batman or even Iron Man. whats the big deal? he got frickin claws on his hand for a reason and movie showed many different uses of them, and their place in Wolverine’s passionate & complex life.
as far as no character development, there was just enough for each character, with Wolverine always being the center of attention. The scene with Wolverine and his girlfriend talking about folk tales was very cool. As well as the weapon X surgery scene. War scenes: great. Boxing match: great. Childhood: great.
Dark Knight this is not, but more like a Iron Man. It is in the top half of super hero movies. But even then, for a movie about Wolverine’s past, and tying in to the larger movie x-verse, it did that very very well. We got to see over 100 years of X-men history and I didnt feel any scene was filler and I am overjoyed to say the least.
My first handful of comics included All-New All-Different X-men #97, in 1975, and there is nothing in this movie that goes counter to that first rush of fun, intrigue and excitement. This movie is a excellent complement for the Origin mini series, as well as Uncanny X-men #140, and even the God Loves, Man Kills story, along with the X-men 2 & 3 movies. It was a perfect tie-in for those issues & movies, and explains so much be leaves you wanting more.
The short but popular & complex history of the New X-Men family is very well served with this new Wolverine movie. I also dont understand the overall hate for the new movie, either by professional critics who expect to see Dark Knight every time, or by supposed fan-boys who “know how a real Wolverine movie should be made.”
I will be seeing this again.
ENJOY!
Saw both this movie and Star Trek recently. The opening scene in Star Trek is better than the entire movie of Wolverine. Save your money and put it towards Star Trek next week. Abrams and cast hit a home run.
JD – And can somebody please tell me how the hell does Matthew McConaughey keep getting work?
Matt Mc romantic Comedies to date:
Fool’s Gold $111 million
Failure To Launch $128 million
How To Lose A Guy $177 million
Wedding Planner $94 million
TOTAL $510 million (not counting DVD video etc.,.)
Stop telling me what a boffo opening this is. It was approximately 15 million less than the last horrible X-Men and 10 million less than Iron Man. Everybody who isn’t a mindless, drooling fan-geek loser hates it. It’s going to have Billy Barty legs. I don’t know why these simpletons have such a hard-on for this character when his super powers are the most unremarkable out of the original team. A pissed-off guy with retractable Freddy Krueger claws and bad hair, how fascinating…*snore*
@ Larry:
“Star Trek”’s pre-release reviews have been glowing to say the least and I think the tracking is pretty solid. If it doesn’t have as big an opening as “Wolverine” did, its legs will be better due to better word-of-mouth. (But even that will hinge on how much “Angels & Demons”, “Terminator Salvation”, “Night at the Museum 2″ and “Up” will cut into their profits.)
“Wolverine” has an 38% “rotten” rating on RottenTomatoes.com (and a 44% rating on Metacritic), while early reviews for “Star Trek” have been very high. But that doesn’t mean one or the other will automatically be successful.
Once upon a time Matthew McConaughey was a promising young actor who actually cared about honing his craft with venerable titles like Contact, Amistad and Frailty under his belt. Now he’s overly content to be a shirtless, towel-clad himbo in a string of nauseatingly horrific movies that serve as aphrodisiacs to women and gay men with awful movie taste, whom judging by the box office receipts are plentiful. If he grows more handsome with age there’s no telling how many more of these abominations he’ll headline as long as they keep making the d-bags who finance them rich. Yech.
…so I see no one has an example of how Wolverine is a bad movie. typical.
can someone list ONE scene they find SO contemptible from Wolverine? hmmmm?
all I see is box-office-envy from a bunch of director-wannabes cryin’ in their glasses of milk.
lame.
oh…and why compare Wolverine with Star Trek??? WHY NOT SEE BOTH?
…and for all the crap about “we are living during a depression and I can only go to so many movies…” thats bull. Movies are doing just fine right now. The supposed depression is not going to harm movies because this year there are many movies with great topics and plots, as well as well-directed and well-produced, and people want to be entertained.
I am a fan of both Star Trek and Xmen and have funds for both and I am not rich by a long shot.
posers.
JD – And can somebody please tell me how the hell does Matthew McConaughey keep getting work?
Double that for Jen Garner:
Juno: $143 million
The Kingdom:$47 million
Catch and Release: $15 million
Elektra: $24 million
13 Going on 30: $56 million
The three movies that she headlined averaged $31 million, yet she keeps getting work.
Wolverine was terrible!
And this from someone who though X3 was decent enough.
For the people saying the action scenes were good, I hope you have never seen an action movie and this is “good” since you’ve never seen an action scene before.
Another thing…if you can’t guarantee your effects work will at least be credible, find another option. This is the worst VFX work in a major summer movie since….since…I can’t quite recall any major motion picture having this bad of VFX. Maybe Van Helsing…and that’s not something you want to be compared to.
I’m not “hating” on the movie…I just don’t think it was constructed with any care or objective other than selling tickets. Which is sad since Hugh Jackman seems like someone who cares about making a good Wolverine movie.
@ lu-ee:
You clearly don’t know the first thing about quality.
The movie was a thin disappointment.
Rothman is wholly RESPONSIBLE for ruining the great X-Men franchise that Bryan SInger so skillfully started. Rothman doesn’t give a shit about the characters, the property, or the franchise. He drove Singer away. He ordered all the characters killed (Xavier, Cyclops) so he wouldn’t have to pay the actors to come back. He doesn’t have a creative bone in his body. He is a failed lawyer and a failed producer with piss poor talent relations. When will Fox realize he is single handedly ruining the back catalog and library.
Wolverine will sink like a stone because it sucks. Thanks Tom. Keep on keepin on. Murdoch needs to can your ass.
Was that Michael Douglas in TGOGP or his dad Kirk? God, he looks like an old Russian lesbian! No wonder Douglas’s career is over. When was the last time Michael did a halfway decent movie? Not this century that’s for sure.
Whiny comic book fans comments make me laugh. Lighten up people, it’s almost as if you have nothing else in your life to vest yourself emotionally in.
@ Luzid:
oi vey, here we go…
…so instead of providing any kind of legitimate evidence or constructive criticism for your hatred of a comic-book movie, you throw insults. so sad.
Well you have lost the argument as far as I am concerned. You clearly did not even see this movie.
I notice you are another director-wannabe with no proof whatsover about what “didnt work” in this movie.
…so typical & lame as well as unable to stop a Wolverine 2 from coming out. I couldnt be happier.
good riddance to you & better luck next time.
I had a great time and for exactly the reasons I posted for my enjoyment of this movie.
…more than I can say for your personal & generic insults.
cheers
“I’m not “hating” on the movie…I just don’t think it was constructed with any care or objective other than selling tickets. Which is sad since Hugh Jackman seems like someone who cares about making a good Wolverine movie.”
Comment by InformedViewer
That pretty much sums up this whole debacle. End of story. Let the rest of the summer roll.
Hugh Jackman is a Huge Jackoff. He needs to tap dance his way back to broadway and leave my f***ing Wolverine alone. They ruined the X-men by completely diluting the story. Now they’re ruining the one character that ever made them COOL. Admittedly it is MOSTLY not the Aussies fault, but the franchise is dead. I don’t care how much money the movie makes. They’ve turned a very serious, epic, and BRUTAL saga into… well, a typical Hollywood crapfest. Odin Save Akira…
@ lu-ee:
I can list more than a dozen reasons to hate (or heavily dislike “Wolverine”):
- Heavily hyped Gambit only has 10-15 minutes of screentime
- Awful CGI when Logan tests his new adamantium claws in the old couple’s home — that’s what practical effects are for.
- Lots of supporting roles were short shrifted like Dominic Monaghan’s electricity manipulator, young Cyclops, Emma Frost and Silver Fox (most felt forced for the sake of fan service).
- A gaping plot hole when after Agent Zero is killed, Stryker finds that the only way to kill Logan is through admantium bullets (but then it doesn’t later on in the movie and also begs the question why didn’t Agent Zero use those to take down Logan)
- Action scenes were like a mix of “Wanted” and “The Matrix,” only they weren’t exciting.
- Danny Huston is no Brian Cox — enough said.
- Unsatisfying ending.
There was a lot of potential of rescusitating the X-Men franchise after the reviled X3, but Fox had to interfere with it — again. I’m glad Marvel itself is handling “Iron Man” and “The Avengers,” I can only imagine how badly Fox would butcher those up.
A three word analysis why this movie totally sucked.
A1S1: History
A2 S1 Brothers
A3 S1 Nuclear
If I wanted a history lesson I would have bought my history book and not Prof. Boons’
If I wanted to know about sibling rivalry I would have bought some tapes by Freud.
If I wanted to rewrite the history of the four nuke stats I would have at least had a big explosion.
Wolf boy sucks, despite swallowing everyone’s money. The local AMC is ramping up Star Trek for a Th 7pm showing. I pray it has great characters, plot and structure if not I ‘m skipping most of these movies until Tran 2.
Matt C,
Thanks. Its about time one of the people who hates this movie stepped up and provided some “proof.”
Unfortunately you are wrong in most of your observations.
..the most glaring mistake or fabrication is when you say:
“…Stryker finds that the only way to kill Logan is through admantium bullets (but then it doesn’t later on in the movie and also begs the question why didn’t Agent Zero use those to take down Logan)”
IN THE MOVIE THE DOCTOR HELPING STRYKER TELLS HIM HE WONT KILL WOLVERINE WITH THE ADMANTIUM BULLETS BUT ONLY MAKE HIM FORGET HIS PAST.
You simply want to see whatever it is you wish to see. You do not want to watch it objectively but subjectively. The explanation that the bullets WOULD NOT KILL WOLVERINE WAS VERY CLEARLY EXPLAINED & SHOWN IN THE MOVIE. Those who hate this movie have gone into it biased & hateful.
Gambit has almost 20-25 minutes in this movie. Almost 15 minutes before even getting to the island.
all the rest of your opinions are just that…opinions. I dont see how they prove this movie had characters who were “short shrifted” or “felt forced”? Mutants were being captured and then escaped. Both Scott and Emma were in about 7 scenes total. what is so bad about that? they had a good amount of screen time to save the other mutants as well as being shown at school. that was about 20-25 minutes of the movie.
…as far as Wolverine in the bathroom, the audience loved that scene where I was, but I guess my little town is just a bunch of hillbillies from upstate NY who dont know any better about what is a good comic book movie and what is a “cool” comic book movie. go figure.
I rest my case. The people who do not like this movie simply went into it with their minds made up or didnt even go see it.
cheers
@ lu-ee:
You’re embarassing yourself but you’re also entitled to your opinion. If you like it, that’s fine but for me — I’m not buying the DVD or supporting Fox in any way if I can (except “Avatar”, at least Rothman has the balls to leave James fucking Cameron alone).
Matt C,
I showed how you missed a key dialogue as to why Wolverine forgets his past to counter a faulty attack you made on the film in regards to why you hate it. Cut the crap with the personal attacks and stick to the facts.
I am ALWAYS willing to buy into negative criticism of ANY MOVIE I MAY LIKE. And someone is more than entitled to make up their criticism based off any standard they want. Even bullshit & lies. But I would much more appreciate the negative criticism if it were based on actual facts and/or events from the movie. If not, then the negative false/contrived/made up comments are fair game to be shot down in the name of objective factual criticism.
cheers