Hugh Jackman’s final appearance as Wolverine may be one of his biggest hits yet as box office tracking pegs the film at close to $200 million worldwide.
Step aside, every single other X-Men movie, because Logan’s here. Logan’s here, he’s fierce and Hugh Jackman wants to go out with a bang and pockets full of money.
This comes as no surprise considering that Wolverine is arguably one of Hugh Jackman’s most famous roles and it’s a departure from anything we’ve seen from the franchise. While the X-Men films inched toward darker tones and have played with the genre for their past few entries, director James Mangold appears to have hit the X-Men sweet spot. By nailing what appears to be a compelling narrative filled with bloody action sequences, Logan will easily sweep at the box office this weekend.
According to new reports compiled by Deadline, the film could open domestically somewhere between $65-70 million. Despite earning an R-rating, the audience proved that a generous amount of bloodshed is just fine if the story’s good. For example, Deadpool (also rated R) did well at the box office. But compared to other R-rated movies like The Punisher and Watchmen, it’s not a guarantee.
But here’s the caveat:
"If the current stream of goodwill towards Hollywood pics — i.e. Resident Evil and xXx: Return Of Xander Cage — continues, Logan could claw out a bigger overall opening number sending its foreign debut well past $130M."
Apparently, the China / Japan movie market could make or break Logan‘s box office totals this weekend. As reported, The LEGO Batman Movie will finally release in China this weekend. And based on its success at the box office stateside, it would be unwise to discount it as a serious contender.
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More importantly, the ratings for Logan praise the film’s depth. Which means, these big box office numbers could be even higher! And then carry Logan to Beauty and the Beast‘s release …