After grossing $9.5 million in Thursday previews, the latest Wolverine solo movie Logan (20th Century Fox), Hugh Jackman’s last portrayal of the character, grossed $33.1 million on Friday (including those previews).
Co-starring Patrick Stewart, Dafne Keen and Boyd Holbrook, Logan opened in 4,071 theaters on Friday, a record theater count for an R-rated movie, and it’s poised to become the biggest March opening for an R-rated movies, surpassing Zack Snyder’s 300, which opened with $70 million in March 2007.
Here are a few Friday comparisons of previous X-Men movies:
The Wolverine (2013) – $20.7 mil. Friday – $53.1 mil. weekend
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) – $34.3 mil. Friday – $85.1 mil. weekend
X-Men Apocalypse (2016) – $26.3 mil. Friday – $65.8 mil. weekend*
X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) – $35.5 mil. Friday $90.8 mil. weekend*
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) – $45.1 mil. Friday – $102.7 mil. weekend*
X2: X-Men United (2003) – $31.2 mil. Friday – $85.8 mil. weekend
Deadpool (2016) $47.3 mil. Friday – $132.4 mil. weekend*
(*three-day gross over a holiday weekend)
As you can see, Logan ended up with more than X-Men United, but slightly less than the first solo Wolverine movie in 2009 and X-Men: Days of the Future Past, the most successful X-movie since 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand. This seems to point to Logan making more than last year’s X-Men: Apocalypse, but probably less than the first Wolverine movie, at least opening weekend.
The other major release for the weekend, Lionsgate’s Christian drama The Shack, starring another Aussie, Sam Worthingon, opened with $5.5 million on Friday and is looking to take third place for the weekend behind Jordan Peele’s Get Out, which is having a solid second weekend hold against Logan.
Check back in tomorrow for the full weekend box office report.
