‘The Wolverine’ Scores $4 Million On Thursday Evening

The Wolverine got off to a pretty good start on Thursday night.

James Mangold’s take on the classic Marvel character managed to score approximately $4 million during its Thursday evening and midnight showings. The flick, which finds Hugh Jackman reprising his role as the title character, is currently on-track to bring home around $65 million this weekend.

However, the folks at Variety believe The Wolverine could end up doing well over $70 million when everything is said and done. However, only time will tell how much money 20th Century Fox will be rolling in by Sunday evening.

The movie’s box office total will probably benefit greatly from its 3D showings. Although countless studios have already adopted the format, this will be the first Marvel movie from Fox that’s presented in the third dimension.

Out of the 3,924 theaters screening James Mangold’s cinematic adventure, 3,063 will screen the film in 3D. This could definitely help put some serious coin into the picture’s box office coffer.

Despite the lukewarm reviews the film received head of its release this weekend, it’s doubtful fan boys will be listening to what critics have to say about the picture. Director Gavin Hood’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine was universally hated and it went on to do $373 million worldwide.

“The Wolverine won’t change anybody’s mind about the character, or about what Jackman can do with it. It’s simply a more focused scenario than usual, full of violence done up with a little more coherence and visceral impact than usual,” Chicago Tribune critic Michael Phillips wrote in his review.

However, Vulture’s David Edelstein wasn’t overly impressed with the effort.

“The idea of Wolverine fighting off waves of yakuza and ninjas amid shoji screens is tantalizing, but Mangold bungles the staging and cuts so fast that you can’t ever savor their silhouettes,” he explained.

Are you planning to catch The Wolverine in theaters this weekend?

[Image via 20th Century Fox]