Box office: ‘The Wolverine’ muscles up a strong $4 million on Thursday night

“The Wolverine” is off to a fearsome start at the box office. 

Fox and Marvel’s latest “X-Men” spin-off pulled in a solid $4 million in North America, where it opened at 10 p.m. on Thursday.

The opening numbers indicated that the film could earn between $65 million and $70 for the weekend, which would make it one of the best opening weekends of the summer.

Both “World War Z” and “Pacific Rim” grossed about $3.6 million on their opening Thursday nights, with the added benefit of having showings begin at 7 p.m.

“Wolverine” once again finds Hugh Jackman reprising his signature role.

2009’s “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” opened to a huge $85.1 million, and went on to gross more than $370 million worldwide. So far, “The Wolverine” has been getting a much better critical reception that its predecessor.

The James Mangold-directed film should have no trouble ruling the box office this weekend, as there are no other new wide releases to compete.

The specialty sector is crowded, however, as Woody Allen’s “Blue Jasmine” and the Aubrey Plaza comedy “The To-Do List” are both opening, while “The Way, Way Back” and “Fruitvale Station” are expanding. 

“The Wolverine” is also opening in most international territories today, and will likely do strong business overseas. Much of the film is set in Japan and features a largely Japanese cast, including Hiroyuki Sanada, Rila Fukushima, and Tao Okamoto.

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