Source: Xinhua

05-04-2009 15:24

LOS ANGELES, May 3 (Xinhua) -- The latest X-Men film kicked off Hollywood's summer movie season this weekend in North American with an estimated gross of 87 million dollars over the three-day period, preliminary figures showed Sunday.

"X-Men Origins: Wolverine," released by 20th Century Fox and starring Hugh Jackman, proved that the Australian actor's newly-found appeal has translated to "major summertime superhero bucks," according to movie industry analyst Paul Dergarabedian.

Actor Hugh Jackman is shown in a scene from the Twentieth Century Fox film "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" in this undated publicity photo released to Reuters April 28, 2009.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Dergarabedian is the founder of Los Angeles-based box office tracking firm Media By Numbers, which was purchased by movie industry review website Hollywood.com. This weekend marks the website's first issuance of weekly box office report.

Jackman plays the title role in the prequel film of the Marvel Comics-based "X-Men" sci-fi thriller trilogy in which he played mutant superhero Wolverine.

"Wolverine" made the second-best opening of the four X-Men movies after "X-Men: The Last Stand," which opened with more than 102 million dollars over Memorial Day in 2003.