Jackman's 'Wolverine' leads weekend pack with $87M

LOS ANGELES (AP) — You can't keep a good X-Man down.

Hugh Jackman's prequel "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" leaped to the top of the box office with an $87 million opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

That put the movie right in the pack with the three previous "X-Men" movies in which Jackman played mutant superhero Wolverine.

The trilogy's final chapter, "X-Men: The Last Stand," had the franchise's best opening with $102.8 million. But "Wolverine" came in ahead of the first two movies; "X-Men" did $54.5 million in its first weekend and "X2: X-Men United" took in $85.6 million.

"It's all systems go," said Chris Aronson, distribution executive for 20th Century Fox, which releases the "X-Men" movies. "Audiences have a huge appetite for Hugh and this character."

"Wolverine" also pulled in $73 million in 101 overseas markets, giving it a worldwide total of $160 million. The movie's debut in Mexico was delayed for two weeks because of the swine flu outbreak there.

The Warner Bros. romantic comedy "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past," starring Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner, debuted in second place with $15.3 million.

The previous weekend's top movie, Sony Screen Gems' "Obsessed," fell to No. 3 with $12.2 million. The thriller starring Beyonce Knowles raised its 10-day total to $47 million.

Overall revenues were virtually even with the same weekend a year ago, when "Iron Man" surprised Hollywood with a bigger-than-expected $98.6 million debut. Hollywood.com box-office analyst Paul Dergarabedian estimated this weekend's total receipts at $160 million, up 0.8 percent from the "Iron Man" weekend a year ago.

Even if that estimate drops slightly once studios release final numbers Monday, the weekend maintained the industry's record box-office pace as consumers cut back on travel and other activities and turn to relatively inexpensive nights out at the movies.

"Nobody thought this weekend would beat or even come close to last year's comparable weekend," Dergarabedian said. "It's a testament to the kind of year we're having and this recessionary moviegoing fueling big box office."

According to Hollywood.com, 2009 revenues are at $3.25 billion, up 16.4 percent from last year's. Accounting for higher ticket prices, movie attendance is running 13.7 percent ahead of 2008's pace.