LOGAN - Box Office

[jo]

Thursday preview box office results...and updated projections for Opening Weekend --

deadline.com/2017/03/logan-box-office-opening-get-out-the-shack-1202035207/

‘Logan’ Roaring To $70M-$72M Opening Weekend – Midday Box Office Update

by Anthony D'Alessandro

March 3, 2017 12:15pm


2ND Update, Midday:  Based off a strong Thursday night of $9.5M coupled with matinees, 20th Century Fox/Marvel’s Logan is dashing to an estimated $28M Friday and a $70M-72M weekend opening at 4,071 theaters with all the mutant powers of 381 Imax screens and 580 premium large format auditoriums. At 4,071, Logan is the widest release for an R-rated film and ditto for Imax’s count. Among Wolverine openings, right now Logan ranks second behind 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine which posted $85M. Logan cost just under $100M before P&A. Fox knew they had something special with Logan and showed off the first 30 minutes at a product reel back in December, and also showed off the movie to the L.A. press 16 days before today’s opening. By the way, there’s always a set of outlying aggressive projections that land on our desk. Translation: It wouldn’t be a shocker to see Logan break $77M.



Universal/Blumhouse’s Get Out is slotting second with an estimated $6M Friday, and second weekend of $18M, -46%, which is still phenomenal for a horror film as they typically see drops of -60% or steeper. Running total by Sunday will be $67.8M.

Lionsgate/Summit’s The Shack is looking very strong for a faith-based movie drawing $5M today, and $15M for the weekend at 2,888 theaters. That’s a higher debut than last year’s Lenten releases Risen ($11.8M opening) and Miracles From Heaven ($14.8M FSS).

Open Road’s Before I Fall, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, is currently estimated to post $1M for Friday and $3M for the weekend at 2,346. The movie carries a $5M production cost before P&A.

Among Oscar fare, best picture winner Moonlight from A24 is grossing $800K from over 1,500 venues for an estimated $2.75M 20th weekend. Total running cume for the Barry Jenkins-directed movie should be under $26M by Sunday. Lionsgate/Summit’s La La Land at 1,411 will be in that range, looking at $850K today and a $3M 13th weekend. Running cume by Sunday for the Damien Chazelle six-time Oscar winner is $145.7M.

All of these estimates are according to rival calculations and can swing up or down during the weekend.


 
1ST UPDATE, 7:21AM: 20th Century Fox’s Logan roared last night with a $9.5M take, the third highest for an R-rated preview after record holder Deadpool ($12.7M) and The Hangover Part II ($10.4M from midnight shows).

Heading into this weekend, Fox was tracking Logan to a $65M opening, however, rivals had it higher between $70M-$75M. There’s also a group of aggressive trackers out there who firmly believe Logan is destined to make $80M-plus. That’s not a crazy projection based on Wolverine’s money last night, coupled with the fact that the James Mangold-directed movie counts a 93% certified fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes — the best badge a superhero movie can have in this day and age, guaranteeing long legs. By the way, it’s also the best RT rating for a Wolverine movie, which has seen its critical grades improve from the first 2009 movie (38% rotten) to the 2013 sequel (69% fresh). Could Logan post the biggest opening in the Wolverine trilogy, beating the first installment’s $85M opening? It’s not unreasonable.

Logan‘s Thursday inches out the $9.4M preview cash earned by Disney/Marvel’s Doctor Strange back in November. That Marvel movie, rated PG-13, continued on to make a $32.6M Friday and an $85M weekend opening. Close to 29% of Doctor Strange‘s preview money counted toward its first day tally.

In addition, Logan knocks out the $8.2M made by X-Men: Apocalypse on its Thursday night. That comic-book movie played over Memorial Day weekend, earning a $26.3M Friday, and $65.7M three-day. Fandango reported this week that Logan pre-sales were outstripping all previous X-Men titles not counting Deadpool.
 
Last year X-Men spinoff Deadpool, also from Fox/Marvel drew $47.3M on its first day with Thursday night repping close to 27% of that figure. However, that pic’s $132.4M record R-rated opening had the testosterone of Valentine’s Day and Presidents Day behind it...

[jo]

Variety's predictions --

variety.com/2017/film/news/box-office-logan-get-out-shack-1202001708/

Box Office: Hugh Jackman’s ‘Logan’ Rips Toward Monster $74 Million Opening

Dave McNary
Film Reporter
@variety_DMcNary



March 3, 2017 | 01:20PM PT

Hugh Jackman’s “Logan” looks to tally as much as $74 million during its opening weekend, early estimates showed Friday.

Fox’s R-rated fantasy-actioner looked to wind up Friday — which would include a powerful $9.5 million in Thursday night previews — with around $28 million at 4,071 sites.

One estimate placed “Logan” in the $80 million range for the weekend. Earlier this week, Fox has been predicting an opening in the mid-$60 million range. Either way, it should top the $53 million launch for “Lego Batman,” the biggest debut of 2017 so far.

“Logan” follows a battle-weary Wolverine hiding out with Patrick Stewart’s Professor X in rural Texas, where they’re tasked with protecting mysterious young mutant, played by Dafne Keen. “Logan” cost $97 million to produce, and is the widest domestic opening ever for an R-rated film.


Critics are showing “Logan” plenty of affection with a sterling 94% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes since its Feb. 17 premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.

Jackman declared that “Logan” is his final turn as Wolverine — the powerful mutant character who says little and relies on adamantium claws. He first portrayed Wolverine in the first “X-Men” movie in 2000.
The film, directed by James Mangold, is also launching in many major international markets including China, the U.K., Germany, Australia and South Korea.

[jo]

Update from Deadline.com

‘Logan’ Logging Best R-Rated Opening In March With $81M+; Audiences Love ‘Shack’: Saturday AM Update


4th Writethru Update, Saturday AM: A year after they rattled the box office annals with Deadpool, 20th Century Fox is proving once again that there’s money in R-rated Marvel movies with the final Wolverine title, Logan. The Hugh Jackman-tentpole now holds the record for the biggest opening day for an R-rated March release with an estimated $33.1M (including Thursday’s $9.5M). It’s also the third best opening day overall for the rating after Deadpool ($47.3M) and The Matrix Reloaded ($37.5M). Prior to Logan‘s March record, Warner Bros’ 300 owned the top first day in March for a R-rated movie with $28.1M. 

Among opening days for superhero movies, Logan is 4% off the $34.4M earned by 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the first movie in the spinoff trilogy.

All of this puts Logan on track for a weekend debut of $81M at 4,071 theaters. Not only is that the widest release ever for an R-rated pic, but it’s the top opening for the restricted rating in March beating 300‘s $70.8M. Other records: it’s the second best for the Wolverine franchise after 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine ($85M), and the seventh best three-day debut for an R-rated movie. Logan cost just under $100M before P&A, and it’s forecasted to make another $100M overseas this weekend (sans Japan).

At a time when studios have no choice but to plunge the depths of their comic-book superhero universes and gamble on new characters while desperately trying to reboot icons like Batman and Spider-Man, Fox is taking a cue from last year’s Deadpool. Let’s face it, the Pico Blvd. studio has seen the light and knows that fanboys (who just get older) are tiring from PG-13 comic-book tropes where there’s always a big noisy battle to save the world at the expense of leveling a metropolis (now how many times have we seen that?). With Logan, Fox has delivered a gritty, blood-dripping, Dirty Harry-like, raw X-Men movie that jibes more with the canon’s sensibility than its previous mutant teenage angst-in-tights titles.

Recently, a Fandango poll reported that out of 1,000 moviegoers, 71% contend that more superhero movies should be rated R, while 86% were interested in seeing a more violent, R-rated X-Men movie with Logan. The James Mangold-directed threequel gets an A- CinemaScore which when coupled with its critical reviews, spells for a fantastic future as March will become even more crowded with tentpole titles, i.e. Kong Skull Island, Beauty and the Beast, aiming to capitalize on kids’ spring breaks.

Fox knew they had something special with Logan and showed off the first 30 42 minutes at a product reel back in December. They also screened the movie to the L.A. press 16 days before its opening, and that helped turn up the pic’s heat on Rotten Tomatoes with a 94% certified fresh rating...

For its part, Forbes predicts a wider range for Opening Weekend --

www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2017/03/04/logan-box-office-hugh-jackmans-wolverine-nabs-massive-33m-friday-for-80-85m-weekend/#1b40ba11b40b

'Logan' Box Office: Hugh Jackman's Wolverine Nabs Massive $33M Friday For $80-$85M Weekend

[jo]

China box office results not doing badly either

www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2017/03/03/china-box-office-logan-snags-huge-15-2m-friday-lego-batman-bombs-resident-evil-tumbles/#467c7a59467c

China Box Office: 'Logan' Snags Huge $15.2M Friday, 'LEGO Batman' Bombs, 'Resident Evil' Dips


We’ll find out soon enough how well Logan did in its domestic debut via Thursday previews, but due to time zone magic we already have Friday figures for the X-Men spinoff in China. James Mangold’s action drama has earned $15.2 million on its first day, including $730,000 in Thursday midnight screenings (and not counting online service fees). That’s a terrific opening day for an R-rated title, as the film was released with both 14 minutes of edits and an explicit advisory warning parents about the brutally violent feature.


That surpasses the $12.9 million opening day of Walt Disney’s Doctor Strange and the $11.2m opening day of Warner Bros./Time Warner Inc.’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The former was surprisingly leggy for a Hollywood movie in China, legging it to $109.1m in said territory from a $43.66m debut weekend while the Harry Potter prequel earned a solid $85.4m from a $40m debut weekend. Barring a fluke in either direction, we’re probably looking at $50-$54m debut weekend for Logan, or more than The Wolverine made ($41m) in China overall.
What will be worth watching is whether the whole “one last ride” thing makes this X-Men sequel/spinoff into a bigger deal in China (and North America). The jaw-dropping $94 million debut weekend for Resident Evil: The Final Chapter was partially due to the series finale factor, and it’s not insane to presume a similar result here. X-Men is popular in China. The Wolverine made $41m in 2013, X-Men: Days of Future Past made $116m in 2014 and X-Men: Apocalypse earned $121m in 2015 in said territory.


Presuming Logan isn’t any more frontloaded than a conventional Hollywood release, we’re probably looking at a $42m debut weekend and a final total of between $102m and $118m. That will be fine for the R-rated action sequel, especially if it does as well as expected around the world...

[jo]

It's getting better and better

Deadline updates after Saturday figures are in for the domestic market --

‘Logan’ Getting Larger With $85M+ Opening; Slices March R-Rated Records

by Anthony D'Alessandro
March 5, 2017 12:17am


5th Update Sunday AM: Typically superhero movies organically see a double-digit percent decline in their Friday-to-Saturday grosses. Not Logan. The 20th Century Fox/Marvel Wolverine threequel collected an estimated $31.2M in its second day of release, down a low 6% from Friday’s $33.1M. This translates into an $85.2M weekend opening, which if that figure holds into the morning, will make the Hugh Jackman movie the 5th best opening for an R-Rated movie ahead of Fifty Shades of Grey ($85.1M) and Passion of the Christ ($83.8M).


Some projections had Logan dipping 15% on Saturday. And if you really want to splice hairs, technically speaking Logan‘s Saturday is actually +32% over Friday, that is when you back out the $9.5M Thursday previews from Friday’s $33.1M. However, distributors in recent years have preferred to roll that preview cash into Friday’s box office...

[jo]

-- for the international box office!!

From Deadline.com --

‘Logan’ Shreds $152.5M In Overseas Debut; $238M Global – International Box Office

by Nancy Tartaglione
March 5, 2017 9:37am



Refresh for latest… Just as he’s torn into the domestic weekend, 20th Century Fox/Marvel’s Logan has shredded it offshore. The international box office debut for Hugh Jackman’s final turn as Wolverine handily clawed its way to $152.5M from 81 markets. This is Fox International’s 3rd biggest launch of all time, behind X-Men: Days Of Future Past ($172M) and Avatar ($164M). Globally, the bow is $237.8M. And, they did it in 2D.


It’s fair to say the film flew past our predictions; which is to say not even the industry was expecting this. Kudos to the Fox marketing claws. And, while an R-rating doesn’t translate directly offshore, the sentiment does.
The James Mangold-directed pic opened to No. 1 in 80 out of 81 markets (Turkey’s Recep Ivedik 5 was the sole movie to better it at a No. 1 local hold). In IMAX, and at $20.6M, this is the 2nd-biggest R-rated global debut behind Fox’s similarly-R-rated Deadpool. Internationally, it is the biggest R-rated IMAX release ever with $10.6M on 687 screens. What’s more, the gritty superhero pic is also the biggest 2D IMAX opening offshore. Both records outstrip Deadpool in the format, particularly thanks $4.4M on 388 in China.

The Middle Kingdom is tops overall, unclenching $46.3M at No. 1 and 33% bigger than X-Men: Days Of Future Past. China was the top market on 2013’s The Wolverine, finaling at $41M. Last year’s X-Men: Apocalypse grossed $121M in the PROC and 2014’s Days Of Future Past ultimately picked up $116.5M there.

Logan debuted last month at the Berlin Film Festival with leading men Jackman and Patrick Stewart in attendance, shining a global media spotlight on the movie. That was a a bet, and has worked for previous films of varying ilks: The Grand Budapest Hotel; Fifty Shades Of Grey…

Mangold said he hoped the film would reach a wide audience with thought-provoking fare. “It’s important that movies that reference pop culture and are franchises and have large national audiences do something more than sell Happy Meals or T-shirts but make audiences ask questions,” the director said. (More Below)

(There is bullishness on legs for this western/superhero mash-up which is clearly justified. But there’s another beast on the horizon, two in fact. Warner Bros/Legendary’s Kong: Skull Island opens day-and-date next week and after that Disney’s Beauty And The Beast will look to re-tell a tale as old as time.)...


Breakdowns on the above and more are being updated below:

NEW

LOGAN

Fox’s heavyweight R-rated Logan delivered a stunning $152.5M opening from 81 markets this weekend. This is Fox International’s 3rd biggest of all time, only behind X-Men: Days of Future Past ($172M) and Avatar ($164M). It also edges out Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith ($145M) and Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs ($151). Notably in Brazil, it’s the Pico lot’s biggest opening of all time in Brazil (and the industry’s 7th biggest opening of all time in the market).

The top five markets are as follows: China ($46.3M/No. 1/ 33% bigger than X-Men: Days Of Future Past); UK ($11.4M/No. 1/1% bigger than DOFP); Korea ($8.2M/No. 1/Fox’s 9th biggest opening of all time); Brazil ($8.2M/No. 1/Fox’s biggest opening of all time); Russia ($7.1M/No. 1/18% bigger than DOFP).


Apart from appearing in Berlin, the team traveled to London and did a big junket in Taipei. Overseas, as elsewhere, the title “Logan” has an impact on awareness; it’s not entirely clear this is an X-Men movie, in other words. And while that title and the marketing have been massaged in some cases overseas, once audiences get their claws in, the expectation is that the movie will leg out.


In a sign of prescience among the writing team, issues surrounding the Mexican border were already in the script, Jackman said in Berlin, before the U.S. presidential debates began. There is hope that the story, a darker look at the X-Men universe — which Jackman pitched as “Little Miss Sunshine with Marvel characters and violence,” per Mangold — will resonate in today’s world.

The last time Jackman sprouted adamantium claws in a spinoff, The Wolverine came in low domestically ($132.5M) but was also, at the time, the biggest of the full franchise offshore at $283M. It has since been overtaken by X-Men: Days Of Future Past, Deadpool and X-Men: Apocalypse. Deadpool, given its R rating domestically and the X-Men heritage would seem like a comp, but this movie is likely to have a different demo.

The biggest market overseas on The Wolverine was China, followed by Russia at $22.2M, Brazil at $21.4M and the UK with $21M. Mexico was also a key play. There have been big currency swings in those markets so, as per usual, a grain of salt needs to be taken when comping older dollars to today’s.

[jo]

And on the domestic front -- results are firming up


Update from Deadline.com --

‘Logan’s $85.3M Debut Breaks Records For Wolverine Series …

‘Logan’s $85.3M Debut Breaks Records For Wolverine Series & Rated R Fare; Beats ‘Fifty Shades’ & ‘Passion Of The Christ’

by Anthony D'Alessandro
March 5, 2017 10:16am


6th Writethru Sunday AM: At $85.3M, Logan easily ranks as the best opening in the Wolverine trilogy, is the best opening for an R-rated movie in March, and the fifth highest overall for the rating, whipping Fifty Shades of Grey ($85.1M) and Passion of the Christ ($83.8M). Nancy Tartaglione reports that Logan was on a tear around the globe with an awesome $237.8M opening, blowing away our $170M estimates. In addition, Logan reps the best opening for director James Mangold, his previous high being the pic’s 2013 predecessor The Wolverine ($53.1M).


Given the groundswell from great reviews to an A- CinemaScore, Logan is bound to post a bigger weekend opening by the time the town wakes up tomorrow. And get this: There’s a shot that Logan, should it fall 45% next weekend to $46M+ could beat Warner Bros./Legendary’s $190M Kong Skull Island for the top spot next weekend. Tracking currently has Kong in the $40M-$45M range stateside.

Logan pushed the weekend’s total ticket sales per ComScore to $184M, +13% over the same frame a year ago. However, the period of Jan. 1-March 5 which has grossed $1.946 billion at the B.O., still lags behind the same frame last year by 2%. By the time, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast enters the marketplace that could all change.

“This is a movie that Jim and Hugh set out to make, executed it perfectly and fans have responded and rewarded it around the world,” beamed 20th Century Fox domestic distribution president Chris Aronson this morning.


In fact, well before Deadpool even cracked the door for R-rated superhero pics, Mangold and Hugh Jackman always wanted to make a gritty, raw Wolverine movie for the uber X-men fans. As we mentioned in our previous post, Fox has touched a fanboy nerve with Deadpool and Logan, who by the way aren’t fringe Marvel universe characters: The studio has truly changed the game on the gravitas of superhero movies by making the characters edgy and rooting them in reality. Some rival studios out there aren’t swallowing this well, because they can’t do this with their superhero properties; more precisely they can’t have their comic book feature adaptations rated R for the sake of their brand or the superheros themselves. As we reported before the weekend, a movie poll found that 71% contend more superhero movies should be rated R, while 86% were interested in seeing a more violent, R-rated X-Men movie with Logan this weekend.


Typically superhero movies organically see a double-digit percent decline in their Friday-to-Saturday grosses. Not Logan. He collected $31.3M in its second day of release, down a low 5% from Friday’s $33.1M. Some projections had Logan dipping 15% on Saturday. And if you really want to splice hairs, technically speaking Logan‘s Saturday is actually +33% over Friday, that is when you back out the $9.5M Thursday previews from Friday’s $33.1M. However, distributors in recent years have preferred to roll that preview cash into Friday’s box office.


Logan drew 63% guys, 37% women with 83% between 18 and 44 years of age. The movie earned five-out-five stars in exit polls. Logan‘s top cities were New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, San Antonio, Washington D.C., Toronto, Houston, Montreal, San Francisco, and Calgary. Canada repped 8.2% of the weekend’s ticket sales with PLFs pulling in $12.3M from 558 for a 15% slice of Logan‘s pie. IMAX drew 12% of the marketplace with $10M from 381 locations...

Not reported by Deadline.com -- how many new babies will be named LOGAN

[jo]

The news is so great and so unexpected it bears repeating

This time, from VARIETY --

variety.com/2017/film/box-office/logan-box-office-hugh-jackman-1202002304/#respond


Excerpts --

“Logan” cost $97 million to produce, and reunites Jackman with James Mangold, the director of 2013’s “The Wolverine.” Jackman has played the role over the course of nine films that have popped up over nearly two decades. He has publicly stated that he intends to hang up Wolverine’s claws.

“Logan” follows an aging Wolverine and Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart), as they navigate a near-future in which mutants are on the verge of being wiped out. It’s a darker take on the comic book genre, one that includes graphic violence and salty language.

“When you have an opening of this size for an R-rated film, you’re connecting with people everywhere,” said Chris Aronson, Fox’s head of domestic distribution...

The sentiment of the whole world saying Goodbye to Hugh's Wolverine and expressing the love for Hugh is manifested also in countless social media messages on Twitter/Instagram/Facebook!

[jo]

This time, stats-oriented FORBES, whose readership would be the business community mostly, gives its usual analysis and extrapolations from the current trends --

Mar 5, 2017 @ 10:50 AM 21,084 views

Box Office: 'Logan' Goes Berserker With Record-Slashing $85.3M Weekend

Scott Mendelson ,   Contributor
I cover the film industry.
Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.



20th Century Fox's Logan presents a conundrum of sorts. The film is already a huge success, with what is now an estimated $85.3 million domestic opening weekend plus whatever it made overseas (to be updated later). Yet part of the appeal is based on the whole "Hugh Jackman's final film" gimmick, with Patrick Stewart announcing the same before walking it back days later. The film's future, along with the current ensemble continuity being stuck in the past, setting leaves plenty of room to bring Wolverine back at some point in the timeline.


So does Fox drive a dump truck filled with money up to Jackman's driveway or do they recast the character (Dougray Scott is busy but potentially available) and hope for the best?  There are worse problems to have for any given studio, and Fox can worry about all of this after they finish counting their money. James Mangold's Logan, which cost around $100 million (the cheapest X-Men since Bryan Singer's $75m original 17 years ago), just bagged one of the biggest R-rated opening weekends of all time.

The film's estimated $85.3 million debut weekend, a strong 2.58x weekend multiplier and a solid 11% Thursday-to-weekend ratio, is actually a record-breaker. Not only is it the biggest R-rated launch ever in March and the fourth-biggest March debut ever (behind Batman v Superman, The Hunger Games and Alice in Wonderland), Logan is the biggest such bow for an R-rated movie that didn't debut on a long weekend.


The rest of the surrounding R-rated debuts, Deadpool ($132 million Fri-Sun/$152m Fri-Mon), The Matrix Reloaded ($91m Fri-Sun/$134m Thurs-Sun), American Sniper ($89m Fri-Sun/$108m Fri-Mon), The Hangover part II ($85.9m Fri-Sun/$135m Thurs-Mon), Fifty Shades of Grey ($85.2 Fri-Sun/$94m Fri-Mon) and The Passion of the Christ ($83m Fri-Sun/$125m Wed-Sun) all did their thing as part of a long weekend or holiday weekend.
But Logan's $85.3 million debut is the fifth-biggest R-rated opening ever and by far (ahead of 300's $70m bow in 2007) the biggest such opening in a conventional Fri-Sun weekend. If you want to play the inflation game, it's still the ninth-biggest such opening between 8 Mile and Hannibal (which, back in 2001, had the third-biggest opening weekend ever behind The Phantom Menace and The Lost World). Among X-Men movies, it's fifth behind X2: X-Men United ($85.5m back in 2003), X-Men: Days of Future Past ($90m), X-Men: The Last Stand ($103m) and Deadpool ($132m).


And, inflation notwithstanding, this is a bigger debut than The Wolverine ($85 million back in 2009) and The Wolverine ($53m in 2013). So yeah, Fox smartly realized that there was an added value in longtime fans finally getting a chance to see Hugh Jackman's Wolverine hack-n-slash in all his R-rated glory. This was a perfect storm of strong reviews, terrific trailers, a series finale bump and a film that was different enough to stand out from its comic superhero movie peers.

And there is also the matter of goodwill built up from Mangold's last better-than-expected The Wolverine, which had to shake off the stench of the much-derided X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Going forward, word-of-mouth is rock-solid and the film will have a week of positive press. But X-Men movies, even beloved ones, tend to be a bit frontloaded and all of March will be filled with biggies like Warner Bros./Time Warner Inc.'s Kong: Skull Island, Walt Disney's Beauty and the Beast and Paramount/Viacom Inc.'s Ghost in the Shell.

I've discussed this issue quite a bit, with a deluge of mega blockbuster undercutting the legs of the week's previous offering even if said release was well-received. One of the negative effects of non-stop blockbuster season will be a situation where even buzzy/well-received biggies won't have the kind of legs to which they otherwise might have expected due to saturation-level demand being filled and another big release coming the very next weekend. So that will be something to watch for this month.

Worst case scenario, however unlikely, it plays like X-Men Origins: Wolverine and ends with around $180m. Best case scenario it ends up as leggy as the first X-Men, which had a frontloaded-for-its-time 2.88x multiplier ($157m/$54m) for what would be an over/under $250m domestic total for Logan. By the way, back in July of 2000, that $54m debut for X-Men was the fifth-biggest debut ever and the biggest non-sequel opening of all time.

I'm guessing the answer will be somewhere in between, such as a 2.5x and an over/under $215 million domestic total with plenty more overseas. Speaking of which, the film earned $152m overseas this weekend, including $49m in China alone, bringing its worldwide cume to $237.8m, or 2.37x its $100m budget and within spitting distance of the original X-Men's $297m (in 2000) worldwide total. If it doesn't drop dead over the next few weeks, we could (emphasis on "could") see a $700m worldwide total. But even a $450m cume would be a huge win for this $100m R-rated, 2D action drama.

So yeah, this is a big win for a somewhat outside-the-box genre offering and a big win for Fox's longterm "blockbusters for adults" strategy. Now the only question is just what to do with the X-Men franchise now that it's the stand-alone spin-offs, not the ensemble films, that have the popular acclaim and pop culture momentum. But that's for another day. In the meantime, if you saw and really enjoyed Logan, might I recommend Children of Men, Blood Father, Midnight Special and The Outlaw Josey Whales?

Fox should apologize to Hugh Jackman for their show of no-confidence when they accepted his offer of a pay cut just to be able to deliver LOGAN the way Jackman and Mangold conceived it to be ... as well as fully acknowledge the way HJ/JM ultimately delivered it for the critics and for the fans! Plus a fat bonus is also due, including a backpay for the ignominious pay cut!

Jo

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/BRREc1CDTGy

That made me cry!

[jo]

It looks like LOGAN is on a berserker mode at the box office, based on estimates


deadline.com/2017/03/logan-box-office-opening-get-out-the-shack-1202035207/

‘Logan’ Rising To $87M+ Opening; Breaks Wolverine Series & More R-Rated Records – Sunday PM Update
by Anthony D'Alessandro
March 5, 2017 10:58pm


7TH Update, Sunday 10:56 PM: Logan is getting larger. Rival estimates tonight see the Hugh Jackman movie on course for an $87.56M opening after a $23.2M Sunday. That’s 10% higher than the $21M Fox was expecting today, with Wolverine’s third day down just 26% from Saturday’s $31.3M.

Should these estimates stick into Monday, Logan will rank as the 4th best R-Rated domestic opening behind Deadpool ($132.4M), The Matrix Reloaded ($91.77M) and American Sniper ($89.3M). The Wolverine threequel has already sliced up other R-rated movie openings including Hangover II ($85.9M), Fifty Shades of Grey ($85.1M) and Passion of the Christ ($83.8M).

Among other records, Logan is the best opening ever for director James Mangold and it will rank as Jackman’s third best behind X-Men: The Last Stand ($102.75M) and X-Men: Days of Future Past ($90.8M). The movie also reps the third best for producer Simon Kinberg after Deadpool and Days of Future Past, the second best for producer Hutch Parker, and the fifth best for producer Lauren Shuler Donner.

We’ll have more box office updates tomorrow.

[jo]

Haha -- our boy LOGAN continues to SNIKT and SNAKT at the box office


From Deadline.com --

‘Logan’ Runs To $88.3M Opening; Breaks Wolverine Series & More R-Rated Records – Monday AM Update
by Anthony D'Alessandro
March 6, 2017 7:20am


8th Writethru, Monday 7:20AM after Sunday night post: Late last night we saw that the Hugh Jackman movie was on track for an $87.56M opening after a Sunday that was off 26% from Saturday’s $31.3.

Well, Logan is even bigger than that.

Per estimates this morning, Logan will clock $88.3M in his first weekend, thanks to a Sunday that dipped 23% for $24.1M.

Logan now ranks as the 4th best R-Rated domestic opening behind Deadpool ($132.4M), The Matrix Reloaded ($91.77M) and American Sniper ($89.3M). The Wolverine threequel has already sliced up other R-rated movie openings including Hangover II ($85.9M), Fifty Shades of Grey ($85.1M) and Passion of the Christ ($83.8M).

Among other records, Logan is the best opening ever for director James Mangold and it will rank as Jackman’s third best behind X-Men: The Last Stand ($102.75M) and X-Men: Days of Future Past ($90.8M). The movie also reps the third best for producer Simon Kinberg after Deadpool and Days of Future Past, the second best for producer Hutch Parker, and the fifth best for producer Lauren Shuler Donner.

We’ll have more box office updates later today.

Hmmm... isn't 8 the luckiest number in the Chinese culture? LOGAN has a double-8 for its Opening Weekend in the domestic market!





Jo

[mamaleh]

I ended up seeing it twice this weekend, adding--if somewhat minutely--to that total.

On Saturday, hubby said he'd be busy all weekend doing our taxes, so I should go by myself to the movies. I did. Loved the IMAX presentation.

Then, yesterday morning, he unexpectedly finished everything up and asked me if I'd mind going to see it again, this time with him. Regular screen.

Mind? Ha! Not at all. I keep catching new things. And I loved savoring what was coming, especially the sweet-sad ending scenes.

Ellen

[jo]

We'll, I am also adding my minute - very - contribution to the international box office. And that has caused the rise to even greater numbers for the past weekend, Ellen

From Deadline.com --

‘Logan’ Leaps To $159M In Overseas Debut; Top R-Rated Offshore Bow Ever – International Box Office Update

by Nancy Tartaglione

March 6, 2017 10:14am

MONDAY UPDATE, with Logan actuals: Fox’s Logan leapt a massive $6.5M in Sunday finals at the international box office. Now beasting out with a $159M offshore bow, the Wolverine threequel has a global total through Sunday of $247.3M. It has also become the biggest R-rated overseas opening ever, topping Fifty Shades of Grey‘s 2015 haul of $156M. Fifty did not have China in the mix, and that is where $2.5M of the extra gross on Logan materialized. Also notable: The UK opening is the best for star Hugh Jackman at $11.6M including previews. More actuals to follow…

Initial estimates were $ 170 million. The actual global results went berserker at $ 247.3 million, or 47% better than expectations! SNIKT! SNIKT!

[jo]

FORBES adds its analysis of the unexpected global opening weekend results --

www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2017/03/06/logan-box-office-just-how-huge-was-wolverines-88m-debut-weekend/#302646b65e9a

Box Office: 'Logan' Is Even Bigger Than We Thought, With An $88M U.S. And $247M Worldwide Debut

Scott Mendelson ,   Contributor
I cover the film industry.
Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.


So yeah, Logan had an even bigger opening weekend than initially estimated. The 20th Century Fox release opened with $88.3 million over the weekend, as opposed to $85.3m as estimated on Sunday, adding up to a $247m global total. The larger-than-expected Sunday obviously implies strong word-of-mouth and superb buzz, but it also puts the film on a slightly higher plateau. For the record, none of this will be adjusted for inflation.
An $88.3 million debut weekend gives the Hugh Jackman vehicle a 2.67x weekend multiplier, stemming from its $33m opening day. That's the third-biggest multiplier in the X-Men series behind only Deadpool (2.79x) and X2: X-Men United (2.73x). Speaking of which, the $88m weekend puts Logan fourth among X-Men Fri-Sun opening weekends, behind only Deadpool ($132m), X-Men: The Last Stand ($102m) and X-Men: Days of Future Past ($90m), all three of which opened over four-day holiday weekends.

It's still the fourth-biggest debut ever in March, behind Warner Bros./Time Warner Inc.'s Batman v Superman ($166 million), Lionsgate's The Hunger Games ($152m) and Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland ($116m). But it now sits as the fourth-biggest Fri-Sun R-rated opening weekend ever, behind Fox's Deadpool ($132m), Warner's The Matrix Reloaded ($91m) and Warner's American Sniper ($89m), all of which also opened over four-day weekend debuts. So yeah, Logan snagged the biggest R-rated opening ever for a movie that wasn't debuting on a long weekend, smoking the $70m (in 2007) debut of 300.



Among all of 20th Century Fox's Fri-Sun opening weekends, it sits behind Deadpool ($132 million), Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith ($108m) X-Men: The Last Stand ($102m) and X-Men: Days of Future Past ($90m), all of which (oddly enough) opened over four-day weekends. Among all Marvel Comics adaptations, the Fri-Sun debut ranks 15th between Spider-Man 2 ($88.1 million back in 2004) and X-Men: Days of Future Past ($90m in 2014). It ranks 21st among superhero movies (counting

Its $247.3 million global debut is, as of this writing, 30th of all time (between The Hunger Games: Mockingjay part II and The Dark Knight Rises) and the second-biggest ever for an R-rated movie right between Universal/Comcast Corp.'s Fifty Shades of Grey ($242m) and Deadpool ($267m). In terms of just overseas figures, the $159m bow is tops for an R-rated movie.

Actually, among X-Men movies, the global bow is not very far from Days of Future Past ($260 million). X-Men: Apocalypse opened overseas in advance of its domestic debut and didn't open day-and-date with China, but it earned around $166m if you combine (perhaps unfairly) the first week's $101m overseas figure and the $65m Fri-Sun domestic debut.


So yeah, Logan is a smashing success straight out of the gate, earning 2.41x its $100 million budget in the first few days. At a glance, we may be looking at a $220m domestic total and a $105m Chinese total along with whatever else it makes around the world. If it performs identically in terms of legs to Days of Future Past, and that's not a prediction, we're looking at a $702m worldwide total. If it performs like Deadpool (which didn't even play in China), we're looking at a $645m total.

So yeah, a $700 million+ global total is possible, especially with the positive narrative and strong word of mouth, but we should remember that even something closer to $550m would be a huge win for the franchise and the studio.

[jo]

I wonder how far/close the film is to breakeven level for FOX?!

The production budget is around $ 100 million( the revised figures from the first reported $ 127 million is probably due to tax credits) but we have no indication of how expensive it was to market the film. Maybe $ 50 million?? Maybe even as high as $ 100 million?? Yes, marketing a movie is very expensive -- which is why the Marketing people at FOX initially were not in favor of the title LOGAN ( as there is no strong connection to the brands " Wolverine" and "XMen").

Domestic return to FOX would be around 55% of receipts while overseas return varies -- maybe an average of 33% ( China dampens the %)


Jo

[jo]

This time, FORBES shuns the statistics -- and concentrates on the less-definables/less-measurables ( but more understandable to us, moviegoers! ) - which is bumping LOGAN to megahit status!

www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2017/03/06/logan-box-office-six-painfully-obvious-reasons-hugh-jackmans-wolverine-finale-broke-out/#3cbae7337a05

'Logan' Box Office: Six (Obvious) Reasons Hugh Jackman's 'Wolverine' Finale Broke Out




Scott Mendelson ,   Contributor
I cover the film industry.
Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.



As you know, 20th Century Fox's Logan had a superb opening weekend. The $100 million-budgeted, R-rated, 2D action drama snagged an $88 million debut. That's the biggest R-rated opening ever in March, the fourth-biggest R-rated bow ever and (oddly) the biggest R-rated opening ever that wasn't part of a long weekend. Oh, and it snagged $241m worldwide to boot, putting it on a path to anywhere from $550m to over $700m, depending on legs. So why did Hugh Jackman's final Wolverine adventure soar to high? Well, here are six (mostly obvious) reasons why Logan did so well in its global debut.


1) The Trailers

With all the talk about how social media fuels fan-driven moviegoing and how digital marketing is such a big deal, everyone on Facebook and Twitter has to have something impressive to discuss and share with their friends. And yeah, Fox's first teaser for Logan was a knockout first sell, setting its grim and somber narrative to Johnny Cash's "Hurt" to make the case that this wasn't a typical X-Men movie. It immediately put the film near the top of every fan's must-see list.
That was followed by another trailer, this one more folksy but no less compelling, and a Super Bowl ad set to "Amazing Grace." Most impressively, Fox's marketing used mood, tone and the strong musical choices to entice viewers without giving away much of the movie. Heading into my press screening, I knew almost nothing about what would transpire in the film's second and third acts. It was a triumph in spoiler-free marketing, and the sheer number of unspoiled scenes and character beats is only going to help the post-debut legs.


2) The R-Rating

Despite conventional wisdom arguing that R-ratings hurt the box office due to losing the kid audience (and the sensitive adult audience), the so-called fanboy/fangirl demographic is only getting older. If you were born in early 2000, months before the theatrical release of X-Men, you are now old enough to buy a ticket to an R-rated movie. Logan wasn't necessarily for casual X-Men fans or even casual superhero movie fans. It was for those who had grown up with this specific actor playing this iconic character.

The R-rating was something of a final treat, a chance to see Hugh Jackman's Wolverine go truly berserker sans careful editing and bloodless violence. It also helped differentiate this film from the prior X-Men movies. 20th Century Fox is arguably positioning themselves as the home of blockbusters for adults (Logan, Alien: Covenant, War for the Planet of the Apes, Kingsman: The Golden Circle), and this is a prime validation of that strategy. As long as these films are mostly budgeted responsibly, this is a terrific way to
differentiate their big products from the competition.


3) The Reviews

20th Century Fox knew what they had on their hands and let word seep out rather early. They screened the first 42 minutes for the press this past December, and mostly uber-positive feedback merely meant that the next 90 minutes had to deliver in kind. And they screened the whole film both at the Berlin Film Festival and for national press two weeks before release, with the review embargo dropping almost immediately after.
The reviews were almost universally positive, with critics praising the character-driven narrative, the grim tone, the jaw-dropping violence and the superb performances. The last two weeks have offered an overwhelmingly positive narrative for the picture, with plenty of critics and pundits comparing it to Spider-Man 2 and The Dark Knight. Reviews do matter for movies like this, particularly as theatrical moviegoing becomes less of a go-to entertainment option. The raves declaring that Logan was both a great piece of genre filmmaking that also happened to be a comic book superhero movie sealed the deal.


4) The Wolverine

James Mangold's first Wolverine adventure, The Wolverine ($53 million debut/$132m domestic total), suffered a bit in North America due to the lackluster reception of Gavin Hood's X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Conversely, Logan was the benefit of audience goodwill towards the 2013 action drama. Mangold's prior action-er was a kind of Yasujiro Ozu-influenced Outlaw Josey Wales homage set in modern-day Japan, and it was a surprisingly good movie. 

In a year of comparatively overblown comic book movies, The Wolverine was a comparatively grounded and small-scale affair. Even with the X-Men franchise being a somewhat tangled web of continuity, James Mangold's Logan was sold as both a series finale for Hugh Jackman's Wolverine and a direct sequel to James Mangold's The Wolverine. As such, Logan was a sequel to a prior installment that most of us rather enjoyed.


5) X-Men: Apocalypse and Deadpool:

In a skewed way, history repeated itself yet again. Just as the mega-budget blockbusters like Man of Steel and Star Trek into Darkness primed audiences for something low-key in the summer of 2013, the world-threatening likes of X-Men: Apocalypse and Batman v Superman leave fans in the mood for a different kind of comic book movie. That's not to say that audiences couldn't enjoy both Dawn of Justice and Logan, but they can't all end with world-threatening peril and connected universe Easter eggs.

That's why it's so important that the comic book superhero genre diversifies itself concerning genre. Fox's mostly hands-off approach with Tim Miller and Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool left fans and intended audiences absolutely confident that James Mangold would get to make the R-rated Wolverine movie that he wanted to make. There was little fear that Mangold's vision would be compromised or neutered since the studio had such an enormous success with that other polar-opposite R-rated superhero movie a year prior (and with Kingsman: The Secret Service a year before that).


6) The Series Finale Bump:

Logan is not the last X-Men movie that 20th Century Fox is going to produce and distribute. Heck, theatrical prints for Logan had a short film that doubled as a teaser for Deadpool 2 before the feature presentation. But if everyone keeps their word, and that's debatable, Logan was Hugh Jackman's final performance as Wolverine, a role he first played back in 2000 and reprised eight more times over the next 17 years.

In that time we've had four U.S. presidents, two new Batman actors, two new Superman actors, three Spider-Man actors and three Hulk actors. So the notion of Jackman hanging up the claws was a huge marketing trump card regarding making this Wolverine adventure more than just a sequel to The Wolverine. The (un)canny twist of Logan is that it may benefit from a Deathly Hallows part II-ish finale bump without actually being the end of the given franchise.

If I may add to the analysis --

*It is also the superb marketing for the movie, more than just the trailers, but all the fresh and innovative material which drew attention to this movie! The inclusion in the Berlinale also elevated the movie not just to world attention but also was a great cap to the marketing campaign ( even if that was Mangold's idea, maybe shared together with Hugh?) There were also key cities covered in the promo trail -- Berlin/Sao Paulo/NYC/ Taiwan & China) - almost all the populated continents were represented save Africa and Australia! And the fan-oriented marketing campaign ( the contests/bringing in some fans to premieres/ the many online Q&A's/etc) likely also heightened the appeal of the movie! Lastly, I could no longer keep track of how many interviews with Hugh, Patrick, or with Hugh&Patrick, and Mangold have been done -- but they are an awful lot

*The superb trio combination of HUGH/PATRICK/DAFNE was a real attraction! Dafne was a true breakout star and in many of the fanarts -- the father and daughter partnership had been very well-illustrated many, many times. The appeal of a father and daughter team countered the harsh non-family appeal of the violence in the film, giving the film seemingly a stronger family appeal. I have seen many tweets of Dad/kid(s) or Mom/kid(s) seeing the movie together.

*From a biased point of view -- Hugh Jackman is well-loved! He does have his share of fans ( check out the Taipei photo at the premiere -- I think the Chinese fans there were probably less aware of the all the other factors mentioned by Forbes -- but they could have been there mainly because of HUGH JACKMAN!)

http://instagram.com/p/BRDhEKCjd5w

Jo

[jo]

deadline.com/2017/03/logan-to-cross-100-million-box-office-1202038340/

‘Logan’ Nailing Down $100M At Domestic Box Office Today

by Anthony D'Alessandro

March 7, 2017 7:38am


20th Century Fox’s R-rated Logan is set to cross $100M today after a solid Monday of $7.15M, which carried Wolverine’s cume to $95.55M.


On average, Monday moviegoing typically eases from Sunday, while Tuesday sees a spike since exhibitors generally offer bargains today. Also helping Logan this week: 19% of all colleges are off on break according to ComScore. In addition to its awesome A- CinemaScore, Logan is the best reviewed X-Men title of all-time at 92% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, besting the RT of X-Men: Days of Future Past (91% certified fresh) and Deadpool (84% fresh).

After Deadpool ($132.4M), X-Men: The Last Stand ($102.7M), and X-Men: Days of Future Past ($110.6M in four days), Logan is the fourth fastest title in the mutant franchise to cross the century mark.

Among R-rated titles crossing $100M, Logan will match Passion of the Christ in crossing the mark in five days, which is faster than Fifty Shades of Grey (6 days) and 300 (8 days).

[jo]

Update as of Tuesday box office --

UPDATE, Wednesday 8:46 AM: Logan‘s Tuesday jumped an estimated 19% over Monday for $8.6 million at 4,071 theaters, sending the James Mangold-directed movie to $104.2M stateside. Together with Logan‘s overseas opening of $159M, the Wolverine trilogy has already shot past the $1 billion mark worldwide.

Among the top-grossing Tuesdays in March, Logan ranks fourth behind Batman V. Superman ($12.1M), The Hunger Games ($10.3M), and The Passion Of The Christ ($9.2M). Some trackers believeLogan might beat Warner Bros/Legendary’s Kong Skull Island for the No. 1 spot this weekend — that is if the great ape comes in under $50M over three days, and the Wolverine pic sustains a fall that’s less than 50%.

[jo]

Box Office Mojo : Estimated Worldwide Box Office Receipts as of March 12, 2017 --

Total Lifetime Grosses

Domestic:$152,656,733 (34.8%)
Foreign: $285,612,119  (65.2%)

Worldwide: $438,268,852

 

Only on its second weekend, LOGAN has already exceeded the worldwide box office receipts for the other two films in the Wolverine trilogy for their entire runs!

Xmen Origins : Wolverine -- $ 373 million
The Wolverine -- $ 414 million

Likewise, LOGAN, only on its second weekend, has already exceeded worldwide receipts for the entire runs for the following other XMen movies --

XMen -- $ 296 million
XMen United ( XMen2) -- $ 404 million
XMen : First Class -- $ 354 million

[mamaleh]

I guess it was inevitable. I was hoping LOGAN could hold off that King Kong redo SKULL ISLAND for a second number-one weekend, but it was not to be: SKULL $61 million, LOGAN $38 million. Still, LOGAN's take thus far is more than respectable, as per above.

Ellen

[jo]

Interesting article from a China filmsite re the success of R-RATED movies there --

chinafilminsider.com/r-rated-films-in-china/?utm_source=China+Film+Insider+Newsletter+Update&utm_campaign=48b24d9115-Daily_Newsletter_August_228_22_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9a066b9dc2-48b24d9115-226845293

R-rated Hollywood films have a long history in China, dating to 1995, when True Lies entered the country as the second-ever revenue-sharing import. Surprisingly, most R-rated films released there in the 22 years since have managed to squeak past the censors intact: some 21 of the 36 films on this list were shown to Chinese audiences uncensored.

At the same time, censorship standards and criteria have been evolving in the interval: Saving Private Ryan was imported in its complete version in 1998, but the World War II-themed films, Allied and Hacksaw Ridge both fell afoul of Chinese censors last year.

Violence and nudity aside, runtime also plays an important role in determining what gets cut. Chinese exhibitors are notoriously stingy with films running over two hours, as that cuts into the possible number of showtimes in a given day, thereby affecting profits. Both Cloud Atlas (35 minutes trimmed) and American Hustle (30 minutes) were seriously excised by local distributors rather than the censorship board to please theater-owners.

Where box office is concerned, there is little correlation between censorship and a R-rated film’s ability to succeed. The Revenant, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, Logan, and Kingsman: The Secret Service all became box office hits despite shortened run times, thanks to their star power and IP recognition.

Hugh is considered a big name in China -- hope this also redounds to the benefit of THE GREATEST SHOWMAN, which is supposedly aiming for a PG-rating range!

Jo
 

[hughmanity]

Mar 12, 2017 21:07:27 GMT -5 mamaleh said:

I guess it was inevitable. I was hoping LOGAN could hold off that King Kong redo SKULL ISLAND for a second number-one weekend, but it was not to be: SKULL $61 million, LOGAN $38 million. Still, LOGAN's take thus far is more than respectable, as per above.

Ellen

I was also hoping for a repeat at #1, partially so I wouldn't have to see obnoxious and inevitable  tag lines such as "Kong Takes a Bite Out of Logan".   Lol. But, looking at the overall picture I have to keep in mind that Kong had 3-D receipts, and is certainly the film that more family audiences would and could go to (when the last "family" movie, Lego Batman, was already a few weeks ago).  Also, there have been a couple of articles about how March has become a tentpole month and in effect the quick succession of blockbusters is such that each film can, to an extent, "sabotage" the preceding one.  I'm sure that Beauty, even with its (so far) middling reviews, will be "beastly" to Kong.   

[jo]

www.cinemablend.com/news/1634859/logan-may-not-have-won-the-box-office-this-weekend-but-its-breaking-other-records

Logan May Not Have Won The Box Office This Weekend, But It's Breaking Other Records

By Conner Schwerdtfeger

Unless you have been hiding out at a smelting plant south of the border, the chances are that you have probably heard about Logan. Hugh Jackman's final outing as the fan-favorite X-Man has gone on to become a worldwide phenomenon in the days since its release, and many are hailing it as one of the best superhero movies ever made. In fact, that high quality has also generated some serious cash flow, as Logan is now the 2017 worldwide leader at the box office -- a rare accolade for such a hard-hitting R-rated adventure.

The Box Office Mojo numbers have started to roll in, and it has become clear that Logan is a major force to be reckoned with at the box office this year. Although it was dethroned by Kong: Skull Island this weekend, Hugh Jackman's final outing as Wolverine is currently sitting pretty as the worldwide box office leader for 2017. Granted, that is with every major market factored into the equation (Logan is currently second to The LEGO Batman Movie in terms of domestic numbers), but the fact that an R-rated, relatively low-budget action movie like Logan has performed this well is impressive nonetheless.

What makes Logan's box office performance even more impressive is the fact that few R-rated movies have managed to pull something like this off in recent memory. The last time an R-rated movie actually ended the year as the top box office earner was in 1991 when James Cameron's Terminator 2: Judgment Day debuted in theaters. Obviously, we do not think Logan will hold the top spot through the end of the year (particularly with major movies like Justice League and The Last Jedi on the way), but it is still worth pointing out how excellent Logan's performance has been thus far.

Another element that makes Logan's box office performance even more intriguing is the fact that it has achieved widespread critical acclaim since its debut earlier this month. The film has garnered a 92% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and CinemaBlend's own Sean O'Connell gave it an insanely rare 5/5 star rating in his review of the film. This movie has achieved critical and commercial success in a way that's seldom seen in the superhero movie genre, and our hopes remain high that it could potentially usher in a new era of hard-hitting, R-rated comic book adaptations.

As always, we will keep you posted regarding any and all relevant information related to Logan (and the rest of the X-Men universe) as more updates become available to us. Logan is currently in theaters, so make sure to check it out while you still can and bid a proper farewell to Hugh Jackman's iconic silver screen superhero.

To me, the unexpected lavish critical praise for LOGAN was what mattered more than the box office records -- the comicbook/superhero movies are littered with "billionaire" results. But it is rare to be accorded the praise that LOGAN received, even being put on the same level of critical praise like Nolan's THE DARK KNIGHT! And to be thought of as the possible jinx-breaker for the genre in the coming Oscars is praise indeed!

Btw, the current aggregate ratings at ROTTEN TOMATOES --

LOGAN - 92%
KONG - 72%
BEAUTY AND THE BEST -- 69%

Ahem!!

[jo]

BoxOfficeMojo final figures for the second weekend --

Total Lifetime Grosses
Domestic: $152,919,158 (35.0%)
Foreign: $284,380,474 (65.0%)

Worldwide: $437,299,632

It looks like it is possible to hit the range of $600 million worldwide while LOGAN is still in cinemas. That would be about $ 163 million to go worldwide -- or about a 37% increase over current worldwide results!... Will it touch $ 700 million - that might be a little too difficult, though.

Given the slightly less than $ 100 million production budget, and even if the marketing ( promotion and advertising budget) is also another $ 100 million ( yes, that is not an unrealistic level these days) -- then, FOX will be counting their unexpected net profit $$$ from this project soon!

Hey, they had better reimburse Hugh Jackman for the pay cut he had to take to get the movie done as it was done! Plus maybe bonuses for every cast and creative who mattered in making this movie! Plus how about setting aside something to promote the movie ( such as re-releasing it at yearend, as The Dark Knight did in its time) if the Oscar buzz is sustained and AMPAS voters need reminding of the quality of this movie) -- they will have a war chest accumulated from the box office success of LOGAN?


Jo