Wolverine & Star Trek Outselling Iron Man In Ticket Sales
Apr 23, 2009 by Rob KeyesJust how big will Wolverine & Star Trek be at the box office?
Remember last year when a then relatively unknown Marvel superhero got his big screen debut? He goes by the alias Iron Man and he earned nearly $100 million at the box-office in his opening weekend.
If ticket pre-sales are any indicator, it’s possible that Wolverine in his solo spin-off origin film may beat Iron Man‘s opening weekend. It doesn’t seem like that leaked, unfinished version of X-Men Origins: Wolverine is hampering pre-sales as MovieTickets.com is reporting that it’s currently outselling Iron Man 3-to-1 in ticket sales in the same time frame prior to release.
Surprised? Impressed? Well, that’s not all! J.J. Abrams franchise-saving Star Trek is doing even better than that despite the fact it is being released a week later. Below is the report detailing the advanced ticket numbers:
X-MEN OUTSELLING IRON MAN
As of Wednesday, MovieTickets.com is reporting that “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” is currently outpacing ticket sales for “Iron Man” 3-to-1 at the same point in the sales cycle (nine days prior to the film’s release).
Both films boast release dates during the first weekend in May during the last two years. “X-Men” releases Friday, May 1, 2009. “Iron Man” released in 2008 on Friday, May 2.”
STAR TREK OUTSELLING X-MEN
Despite releasing a week later than “X-Men,” “Star Trek” has already sold 25% more advance tickets at MovieTickets.com than “X-Men.”
It seems that the economy sure isn’t affecting the movie business negatively this summer, and that’s a good thing considering the plethora of major summer tent-pole films we’ll be seeing this year.
What do you think of the pre-ticket sales numbers? Do you think they’re a strong indicator of what we’ll see opening weekend in terms of box-office sales? And, more importantly, will you be seeing these two movies? I know I will.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine opens next Friday, May 1 2009. Star Trek hits theaters the following weekend on May 8th with 7:00pm screenings on May 7th.
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cat,
i was joking when i made that comparison
Ken
I can see it being compared to Iron Man – makes sense.
Matt
ok, i thought u guys were serious.
@cat um, no…. it doesn’t make any sense… But I guess if you’re on the “OMG TDK IS THE AWESOMEST THING IN THE WORLD” bandwagon then I guess I can understand how you can make that distinction…
some people just can’t have a normal conversation.
Oh I’m sorry, I forgot I’m supposed to just agree with you. Yep, you’re right.
Better?
I just disagree with you, sorry cat. It happens man.
Cat, seriously??? Why do you think everyone has to agree with your opinion? Everyone has their own. I thought TDK was a really good movie, but for some reason i cant watch it again, every time i try to i just get stuck on certain boring parts that make me turn it off. People act like TDK was the best film ever made. Its not even the best comic book film ever made IMO, Spider-Man 2, and Iron Man were better. Just please stop thinking everyone has to agree with you.
allright, im critical. my bad.
but i never said TDK was the greatest thing. just assumed i did. i love the character Wolverine but IMO TDK is on another level.
peace
now TDK is better then spider-man2 you should at least pick a better movie than that
Not sure if that makes you critical, just that your opinions differ. I really liked TDK, but it is definitely flawed, especially the ending. But I do agree that after we all see Wolverine, I doubt anyone will compare it to TDK OR Iron Man…
I’ve never really been a big fan of Spider-Man, so I might not be the best person to say this, but I also think TDK is a better movie than Spider-Man 2, but that’s purely my opinion, so…
I find it rather amusing and coincidental that this information comes out about the same time as the leaked movie “witch hunt” starts dying down. Just like the US Government is prone to do, Hollywood had a knee jerk reaction that turned out to be unnecessary.
It doesn’t really matter what pre-sales are like. That is only an indicator of how many people want to see the movie opening weekend. The real test will be how much of a drop there is on the 2nd weekend and 3rd weekend. Honestly, I predict there will be a 40% or higher drop in ticket sales for week 1 to week 2. Iron Man actually held up pretty well for a few weeks because there were no preconceived notations about the character. Al we really wanted was a red and gold metal suit with bad ass weapons and the ability to fly. We got that and a great story with the original grey suit thrown in to sweeten the deal. It was bright, colorful, well directed and enjoyable; I found myself watching it 2x in the theaters and multiple times at home with my daughter. I do not think Wolverine will enjoy the same reaction. They know what we expect of the character and the secondary characters and because they chose to ignore that info and go a different direction, I believe that will hurt them in terms of movie sales stamina.
@Walwus
You’re absolutely correct – it’s just an indication of opening weekend numbers. But over the last couple of years opening weekend box office has become a measure of “manhood” in Hollywood.
I figure opening weekend box office is an indication of how good the marketing is on a film – but the REAL indicator is how it does on its second weekend. Actually a 40% drop is about average for a movie on its second weekend. Low 50s is an indication of great word of mouth and 65+ drop is not a good sign.
Vic
Are those numbers fair though?
In recent years it seems far more difficult to keep a strong second weekend when the week after presents movies like Star Trek, Angels & Demons or Terminator? (and those are just the three following weeks)
Sorry Vic I meant to type 70% instead of 40%, that’s what I get for using the number pad
Rob:
Whether it’s fair or not is not really the point. That’s just how it is in the film world. If it was going to be a fair comparison, then every single movie in every genre would have to open the same number of theaters, in the same cities, with the same number of seats available for each showing. Also, ticket prices would have to be the same across the board, no students, military or senior pricing.
I think it’s great to see how much gross a movie makes but I would find it more interesting to see the number of tickets sold compared the total number of seats available. I don’t ever remember seeing a formula for that being on the web but it would sure make for a more accurate representation of how a movie did.
It would also be interesting if box-office results site would compare how much the movie could have made MAX to what the movie actually made. It’s not as impressive when the movie had the potential to make $100 million but only did $25 million. I’m sure the Big Wigs in Hollywood have that kind data mined on a constant basis.
Rob,
Next month will certainly be battle at the box office!
Vic
I dont know guys, I havent really been seeing that much advertising for Star Trek(besides the internets) but come on, every channel your on you see Wolverine. Im watching basketball I see Wolverine, Im watching soccer I see Wolverine(even in spanish!!!!!!!) my wife is watching Desperate Housewives on Lifetime, I see Wolverine. Its everywhere!!!!! Check this out, its hella funny
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbMk3kfLp74
I have been seeing quite a few commercials for Star Trek, Oscar. I think you’ll really start to see them ramp it up the next couple of weeks.
very interesting thing i noticed. almost everybody i talk to says that star trek has had enormous presence on tv, especially on espn, and that they have seen very little commercials for wolverine, except in the last couple of days.
but i guess we only notice what we choose to notice…
Did you guys even go to my link? Come on it’s everywhere, Papa Johns, 7-Eleven, Shaving products. But yea, Star Trek should kick up next week
well, ultimately is the word of the mouth thats gonna decide the fate of both movies. and i hope i dont need to point out evident difference here.
also, the fact that paramount has proudly been showing of trek around the world whole month before release, while fox will wait for couple of days before release of the movie for its premiere, speaks volumes about studio bosses confidence from both sides.
then again, i think it remarkable that paramount has even a chance to compare next trek earnings to those for wolverine . x-men 3 earned 460 million dollars ww. nemesis less than 70.
thats enoguh from me for this topic
They really should compare ticket sales instead of the gross because with inflation, it’s almost guaranteed that any record will be broken if you wait for enough inflation. It’s amazing Titanic has held on so long, I think the reality of how huge it was will never be fully realized if we go by gross alone. A film that comes “close” to matching or beating it now is really pretty far behind since ticket prices back then was much lower…
Oops, when I say ticket sales I mean the number, not the money from the ticket sales, I should be more specific to prevent any possible confusion…
@Ken J
Yeah, when I compare box office grosses of recent movies to older ones I always factor in inflation.
Vic
lol, Oscar!
Thanks for the link
What I believe will happen is that Wolvie will obviously be #1, followed by Trek, but the 3rd weekend Trek may just still be #1 with Angels and Demons #2. I know you’re saying, “He’s just a Trek-head” but I believe many Christians will ban this movie or even spread bad word-of-mouth without seeing it. I base this off of DaVinci, which was actually pretty good IMHO, and talking to a Catholic I know who will not see this film because it is Dan Brown.
john,
man, im soo annoyed w/ stuff like that, im a christian in all, but its still just a MOVIE and not real
@Matt…
EXACTLY. It’s just a movie and the last I checked this is STILL a free county with freedom of expression and all. Yes, the people have a right to not go see it, but to try and get it banned? That is just STUPID. I will be going to see Angels & Demons because a)I loved the book and b)I hope to tick off all the extremely religious nutjobs that are going to be protesting this work of FICTION.
andy s,
ill see it(probably on dvd) b/c 1) tom hanks is a great actor and the davinci code was great 2)it looked like a good film from the previews
I don’t get how they can ban it in the first place. If you mean a Christian owned theater refusing to show it, hey, that’s their right as a free-market economy. It’s their loss anyhow since I’m sure the movie will bring in revenue. I’m not a fan, but I know it’s anticipated by others.
But people can choose to boycott whatever they want, it doesn’t bother me. That’s the freedom we have in this country. Like the people who protest against the military or whatever. It’s their right, I just wonder if they’ll ever realize that it’s that military that lets them keep that right…