Mayhem in May - Wolverine claws in

X-Men Origins: Wolverine ripped apart competition raking in $85 million in its first weekend. The collections are equal to those of X2: X Men united and way better than the first X-Men movie. In the process it neatly displaced Fast and Furious from the top position in the 2009 opening weekend chart. To add to the harvest, the movie also clawed in $73 million from the foreign markets.

Swine flu threats and the much worried about issue of the leaked workprint of the movie didn’t take away the enthusiasm from the fans. All the critics who gave this one a terrible rating will be hiding their faces in the shadows as the popularity is expected to rise in the coming days.

Made on budget of $150 million, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is the second most expensive movie in the franchise. I seriously doubt those numbers since the packaging doesn’t look or feel as big as X3 or X2. Not so hard to believe that Hugh Jackman was paid a whopping $20 million for the part. The producers who must have had a lot of trouble to pay that sum will now be glad to be paid back in full for the investment.

Mayhem in May - X-Men Origins: Wolverine

“May day, May day…Wolverine is out of the cage”

Kicking of the summer season this year is X-Men origins: Wolverine. More than a fine way to raise the curtains on the blockbuster season to follow which stretches out all the way till August.

The multi-layered character who carried on his broad shoulders a considerable weight of the X-men trilogy is finally a solo hero. The first movie in a series of prequels on the major characters in the X-Men series, X-Men Origins: Wolverine traces the disturbed and violent past of Wolverine.

Hugh Jackman reprises his role as the hot-headed and at times arrogant mutant. Directed by Gavin Hood who has won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 2006, the movie finally sheds some light on the mysterious history of the character. The movie clarifies many questions on his origins, his love life, his association with the Weapon X programme, the fellow mutants who he met and his acquaintance with Col. William Stryker. A better of picture of Logan (Wolverine) and his character will make Wolverine followers who couldn’t get enough of him in the X-Men trilogy, run to the theatres. Liev Schreiber in the role of Victor Creed (Sabretooth), Wolverine’s half brother fills in the shoes of one of the many battle royale adversaries. The worst nemesis, Weapon XI tests the real mettle of Wolverine’s Adamantium claws and the claws do get up close and personal with a Helicopter mid-air.

For the viewers there is a catch, as the director has stated that the movie will have multiple endings. Box office numbers are difficult to predict. But given the positioning of the movie’s release date and cashing in on the popularity of the character, it can open big at the box office. $80 million is a reasonable figure for the opening weekend count. We’ll have to wait till Monday for the actual figures as it remains to be seen on how much furious can Wolverine get at the box office battle.