On Friday, X-Men Origins: Wolverine kicked off the summer movie season with an estimated $35 million on approximately 8,300 screens at 4,099 locations. That ranks as the 16th highest-grossing opening day ever (and 22nd when ticket-price inflation is factored). The gross includes nearly $5 million from its first midnight shows at around 2,000 sites.
Compared to past summer season first days, Wolverine was the fourth biggest, behind Spider-Man 3, Spider-Man and Iron Man, which garnered $35.2 million on the same Friday last year (not including $3.5 million in Thursday night previews). X2: X-Men United comes in fifth with $31.2 million, although, adjusted for ticket price inflation, it would rate a bit higher than Wolverine with over $37 million. Based on the patterns of past similar movies, Wolverine is headed for an over $80 million weekend.
The romantic comedy that counter-programmed Wolverine had a relatively soft start. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past barely made more than Made of Honor on the same Friday last year, grossing an estimated $5.8 million on around 3,800 screens at 3,175 locations. In terms of attendance, it was the weakest opening day yet for a Matthew McConaughey romantic comedy, paling compared to Fool's Gold's $7.5 million and Failure to Launch's $8.5 million among others. Should Ghost of Girlfriends Past perform in the same vein as past titles, it will wind up with a $15-16 million weekend.
The other nationwide debut, Battle for Terra, pulled in about a quarter of a million dollars at 1,162 sites. That was double the opening day of Delgo, which had nearly a thousand more theaters, but a fraction of Fly Me to the Moon, which had less than half the theaters. Battle for Terra has a shot at $1 million for the weekend in what will be one of the worst openings ever for a computer-animated feature. It was no match for Monsters Vs. Aliens, which made an estimated $1.3 million on Friday, its 36th day.
Following its impressive debut last week, Obsessed tumbled 63 percent to an estimated $4.2 million on Friday, ranking third. A big drop was always in store for the thriller, and its total grew to $39 million in eight days. 17 Again continued to track in line with 13 Going on 30 and grossed an estimated $2 million for $44.1 million in 15 days. Meanwhile, The Soloist, Fighting and Earth lost traction in their second Fridays.
