In two weeks, the end of an X-Men era will be upon us. 17 years after he debuted on the big screen as Wolverine, Hugh Jackman will hang up the claws once and for all in Logan. Providing the last appearance of Jackman's Wolverine is reason enough for longtime comic book fans and casual moviegoers who've enjoyed the X-Men series over the years to check out Logan, but beyond that, the movie looks like it will be something unique, from the R-rated action to its smaller scale feel. Regardless, this is still a high-profile superhero blockbuster being released, and right now, the third Wolverine spinoff is expected to make around $60 million its opening weekend.
According to The Wrap, Logan is tracking to collect somewhere between $55 million to $60 million in its first three days, including Thursday night screenings. For comparison, 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine opened to $85 million, while 2013's The Wolverine opened to $53 million. So Logan probably won't break any records, but $60 million would still be an impressive haul, especially since it's being released in March instead of the summer. The report also mentions that because other blockbusters are being released later in March, like Beauty and the Beast and Kong: Skull Island, Logan will almost certainly deal with a drop-off around its second weekend, which has been common with previous X-Men movies.
Given that it's and X-Men movie starring one of the popular characters in the genre, it's to be expected that Logan will draw large crowds next month. Still with the March release date and the R rating (the latter of which prevents younger fans from being able to enjoy it), it's definitely facing more obstacles than its PG-13 predecessors. Fortunately, that doesn't prevent Logan from making quite a bit of money at the box office. Look at Deadpool. It was made off a $58 million budget and also rated R, but thanks to an invested fanbase, faithfulness to the source material and a clever marketing campaign, it went on to make over $780 million worldwide. Will Logan be that successful? That's hard to say, but given the X-Men series' popularity and that this is Hugh Jackman's last time playing the hero, those have to improve its chances of financially performing well.
Set in the near future, Logan will follow an aged Wolverine whose healing factor isn't what it used to be. While taking care of an increasingly unstable Professor Charles Xavier, the eponymous mutant's life is thrown for a loop when a young girl named Laura who is "very much like him" shows up on his doorstep being pursued by the forces of an organization called Transigen. Forced to go on the run, Logan will grow closer to Laura and figure out if he wants to put his remaining powers to good use.
Logan claws its way into theaters on March 3.
