Wolverine claws its way to top of US box office

The Wolverine, starring Hugh Jackman as Marvel Comics' sharp-clawed superhero, slashed its way to $55 million in US and Canadian ticket sales to claim the box-office crown in a summer that has not been kind to some other big-budget action films.

The Conjuring, the low-budget horror film that led last weekend's box office, slipped to second place with $22.1 million in domestic sales from Friday to Sunday, according to studio estimates. The film has generated nearly $84 million in overall ticket sales, a surprisingly strong showing for a film that cost just under $20 million to make.

The animated film Despicable Me 2, featuring the voice of comic actor Steve Carell, finished third with $16 million in ticket sales in its fourth week in movie theatres. The film was made by Universal Pictures and has collected more than $660 million in ticket sales around the world.

Animated film Turbo, about a super-speedy snail with dreams of racing in the Indy 500, took the number four slot with sales of $13.3 million. Ryan Reynolds provides the voice for the title character in the film produced by Shrek creator DreamWorks Animation.

The Wolverine fell short of Hollywood insiders' $72 million weekend estimates, the latest in a string of big-budget action films that failed to meet expectations, although it performed strongly overseas. In recent weeks, R.I.P.D., Pacific Rim, The Lone Ranger and White House Down all fizzled at the box office.

"We're incredibly happy with this result," said Chris Aronson, presid-ent of domestic distribution for 20th Century Fox, which distributed The Wolverine.

The film took in more than $86 million internationally, for a total worldwide gross of $141 million.

The Wolverine, which cost an estimated $120 million to make, stars Jackman in his sixth film as the ageless mutant, which is also featured in the X-Men movies.

Reviews were mixed to solid on Wolverine, with a 68 per cent positive rating on review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, and the film received an A-minus Cinema-Score rating based on moviegoers' input.

Ticket site Fandango said the film grabbed 51 per cent of advance sales, with 73 per cent saying they would not want to see the film without Jackman in the lead role.

Aronson also pointed to the importance of the star as a huge draw at the worldwide box office. "We're going to be phenomenally successful at the end of the day," he said.