Hugh Jackman to launch `Wolverine' in Mexico

Hugh Jackman has been cleared to visit Mexico.

Film distributor 20th Century Fox says the actor will help launch "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" in Mexico City on May 26. Last week, Jackman's scheduled appearance there was canceled due to swine flu concerns.

The Mexico premiere will be held at the National Auditorium. According to Jackman's Twitter page, the "Wolverine" star intends "to provide a moment of fun escapism and a treat for some of the loyal fans of the comic."

Movie theaters across Mexico reopened Thursday after a five-day shutdown of businesses, schools and other venues. Mexico announced its 45th death and 159 more cases Friday.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FILM_WOLVERINE_MEXICO?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-05-09-15-41-56

Studio ups download figure for pirated "Wolverine"

An unfinished pirated version of "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" that hit the Internet March 30, well before the film's No. 1 debut in theaters, has been downloaded some 4 million times, News Corp's. 20th Century Fox said Wednesday.

Whether such online attention hurt "Wolverine" at the box office is debatable, but Fox's assertion of 4 million is about four times greater than previous estimates.

At last year's average ticket price of $7.18, the piracy could conceivably -- though not likely -- have cost Fox $28.7 million.

"Piracy is a serious issue for us. We now estimate that there are above 4 million downloads of that stolen 'Wolverine' movie that was up there," News Corp. COO Peter Chernin told Wall Street analysts on Wednesday.

Chernin and chairman/CEO Rupert Murdoch were speaking on a conference call. A News Corp. spokeswoman later confirmed that the statistic was 4 million and not 1 million, the smaller number having been conventional wisdom for several days.

Chernin said on the call that many Internet sites illegally trading "Wolverine" have been shut down.

Piracy of intellectual property including movies, said Chernin, is "as big an act of industrial espionage, industrial sabotage, as we have seen in terms of its economic impact."

Nevertheless, "Wolverine" scored a better opening weekend than any other movie this year.

Said Murdoch on the call Wednesday: "At Fox, we couldn't be happier with last weekend's $85 million opening of 'Wolverine.'"

http://uk.reuters.com/article/televisionNews/idUKTRE54614N20090507

Wolverine slashes US competition

The action adventure film X-Men Origins: Wolverine has slashed its way to the top of the North American box office, early figures show.

The comic book prequel took $87m (£58.2m) in its opening weekend despite an unfinished copy being leaked on the internet a month before its release.

Globally, the movie took another $73m (£49m) in ticket sales.

The film, starring Hugh Jackman, tells the story of mutant James Logan seeking revenge for his girlfriend's death.

Chris Aronson of Twentieth Century Fox called the opening figure "fantastic" after estimating a $70m (£47m) opening.

US BOX OFFICE 1. X-Men Origins: Wolverine - $87m 2. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past - $15.3m 3. Obsessed - $12.2m 4. 17 Again - $6.4m 5. Monsters vs Aliens - $5.8m Source: Media By Numbers

He also noted box office takings may have been affected by other issues including the swine flu outbreak that shut cinemas in Mexico and a high profile basketball game in the US.

Aronson added he was confident the film would still continue to perform well, despite the release of other big budget films in May including Star Trek, Terminator: Salvation and The Da Vinci Code sequel, Angels and Demons.

"When there are quality films to be seen, the marketplace will expand to accommodate everybody," he said.

Elsewhere on the chart, romantic comedy Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, starring Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner, opened at number two with $15.3m (£10.3m).

Last week's number one, stalking thriller Obsessed, fell two places to three, while Zac Efron comedy 17 Again remained at four.

Animated film Monsters vs Aliens climbed back up the chart to five.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8032262.stm

'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' grosses $35 million Friday night

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is howling its way to the top of the box office with an opening day gross of $35 million. Bowing in 4,099 theaters, the film boasted a per-screen average of $8,539 on Friday. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (starring Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner) also scored a healthy opening-day number, with $5.8 million in 3,175 theaters. Wolverine's opening-day haul lags behind 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand's single-day opening gross of $45 million, according to Hollywood.com's box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian. Whether the can make up the deficit in the next two days remains to be seen. If not, it's highly unlikely the Hugh Jackman flick will manage to match Iron Man's gross of $98.6 from this same weekend last year.

http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2009/05/x-men-origins-w.html

Wolverine gala shuns LA glamour

The small city of Tempe, Arizona hosted the world premiere of blockbuster Wolverine after winning a competition.

Fans had to complete a form on the film's website. Tempe, a desert suburb of Phoenix with a population under 200,000, logged the most entries.

Lead actor Hugh Jackman roared into the event on a motorbike and declared "I love this place. I'm moving here."

The rest of America must wait until 1 May for X Origins: Wolverine, which opens in the UK on 29 April.

Dedication

Tempe fans beat finalists from nine other US locations, from big hitters Las Vegas and Philadelphia to small town hope Zelienople, Pennsylvania, population 4,123.

Jackman loves talking to fans

Jackman praised the dedication of ticket-holding fans who had been waiting outside the cinema since three in the morning to catch sight of him.

"No one in LA is sleeping out overnight when they already had tickets to the best seat in the house," he said.

He was joined by other stars from the new film including Liev Schrieber, Will.i.am and Lynn Collins.

Ryan Reynolds, who plays the mutant Deadpool, thought this could be the way forward: "LA has had its fair share of Hollywood premieres. So has New York.

Fans who queued overnight enjoyed the unexpected spotlight on Tempe

"This is the way to do it. You get to be interactive with the fans," he added.

Local resident Paul Morales, 20, was one of the ticket holders who also queued to see the celebrity arrivals. "It's tiring waiting for the tickets but it's so worth it" he said.

"I'm proud of my hometown for getting the recognition it deserves for hosting a premiere like this, I couldn't be more ecstatic," he added.

Flu delay

Meanwhile, fans in Mexico will have to wait much longer for the film.

Its release has been delayed as the outbreak of swine flu in the country has forced many cinemas to close.

The Mexican premiere of Wolverine, which was scheduled to take place on Tuesday night, has also been cancelled due to fears for the health of actors and studio staff who would have attended.

A spokesperson for Twentieth Century Fox said: "We were not only concerned about Hugh's welfare - and we would never send anyone into harm's way - but we also have an enormous office filled with people we care about.

"There was no point in proceeding under the current conditions"

The premiere event may be rescheduled in the coming weeks.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8022094.stm

Hugh Jackman Heartbroken by Wolverine Leak

The reigning Sexiest Man Alive doesn't think what happened to his new movie is very sexy.

"It's a serious crime and there's no doubt it's very disappointing – I was heartbroken by it," Hugh Jackman said Wednesday about last week's Internet leak of a work print of his X-Men Origins: Wolverine. "Obviously people are seeing an unfinished film. It's like a Ferrari without a paint job."

While Wolverine is set for official release on May 1, its studio, 20th Century Fox, says the FBI and the Motion Picture Association of America were investigating who might have pirated it and have promised to prosecute the culprits.

As part of a world tour to promote the movie, Jackman, 40, previewed about 20 minutes to about 600 fans in Sydney, Australia, and said he didn't think the Web leak would harm eventual cinema attendance, the Associated Press reports. The star made his entrance from a helicopter – and then to the ground on an aerial wire.

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20270859,00.html

Most Awaited Films of 2009

A new online list of the most eagerly awaited films of 2009 is either way off, or its compilers didn't bother to ask genre movie fans what they're waiting for as this year winds down.

Movietickets.com surveyed its readers and came up with "The Top 10 Most Anticipated Films" for next year. The list includes:

1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Warner Bros)
2. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Fox)
3. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Paramount)
4. Public Enemies (Universal)
5. Angels & Demons (Sony)
6. Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian (Fox)
7. The Informant (Warner Bros)
8. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (Fox)
9. The Day the Earth Stood Still (Fox)
10. The Taking of Pelham 123 (Sony)

HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE

ANGELS & DEMONS


X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE HD