"The Wolverine" claws way to top spot at weekend box office
"The Wolverine" slashed past monsters and little yellow minions to debut in the top spot at the weekend box office.
The Fox film featuring Hugh Jackman's sixth turn as the clawed Marvel hero opened with $55 million in North America, according to studio estimates Sunday.
- Hugh Jackman calls "Wolverine" a career-defining role
- Critics grumble over "The Wolverine;" smitten by Hugh Jackman
Last weekend's top movie, Warner Bros.' low-budget horror "The Conjuring," slipped to second place, adding another $22.1 million to its take, while "Despicable Me 2" was in third with $16 million. The Universal animated sequel, with its cast of cute, yellow minions, has made more than $600 million worldwide since it came out four weeks ago.
"The Wolverine," which is set in Japan and features an international cast, earned another $86.1 million overseas. The film's opening-week take surpassed the $120 million it cost to make, said Chris Aronson, Fox's head of domestic distribution.
"It's a huge opening for the clawed one," he said. "It played equally well from Maine to Maui."
Another Fox film, the animated snail-racing tale "Turbo," was in fourth place with $13.3 million. Adam Sandler's "Grown Ups 2" followed with $11.5 million.
Woody Allen's latest, "Blue Jasmine," enjoyed a stellar opening of its own, though on a much smaller scale. Starring Cate Blanchett, the film opened in just six theaters but still collected $612,767. That amounts to a per-theater average of $102,128 -- not only the highest such figure of the year for a film opening in limited release, but also the highest for any of Allen's films, the Los Angeles Times notes.
"It's one of the biggest opening per-theater averages ever for a non-animated film," said Paul Dergarabedian of box-office tracker Hollywood.com.
Ticket sales this weekend were up almost 30 percent over the same weekend last summer, he said.
"It was a good weekend to be a moviegoer because the choices just got a lot more interesting," Dergarabedian said, noting a mix that includes animated, independent and big-budget action offerings.
"Fruitvale Station," the Sundance winner already generating Oscar buzz, opened across the country and edged its way into the top 10, contributing to a summer box office that's up more than 10 percent over last year.