Fox’s X-Men tale put a lot of space between itself and the competition as the action release debuted top in North America on an estimated $55m, even though the result will have disappointed studio executives. TWC’s awards hopeful Fruitvale Station vaulted seven places to number 10.

Box office for the top 12 fell 12.6% against last weekend but summer 2013 maintained its winning ways overall and climbed approximately 14% against the corresponding session of 2012

The Wolverine delivered a tame debut compared to the $85.1m launch of X-Men Origins: Wolverine back in May 2009. The $141m global tally, buoyed by a strong $86.1m international launch, will have rectified matters somewhat.

Hugh Jackman returns for his role for his sixth outing in the role – the seventh comes next summer in X-Men: Days Of Future Past. James Mangold directed the film.

Broadly speaking, everything else moved down one place except for Fox’s hit The Heat, which held firm at number eight on $141.2m after five sessions, and Universal’s troubled R.I.P.D., which dropped two places to number nine in its second weekend and stands at a lacklustre $24.4m. Universal’s Despicable Me 2 in third place crossed $300m in the fourth weekend to reach $306.4m.

Fruitvale Station added $4.7m from 1,064 theatres after TWC increased the count by 1,030 in the third weekend. Ryan Coogler’s Sundance hit has grossed $6.3m so far.

In other limited releases SPC released Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine boasting an awards bait performance by Cate Blanchett on $613,000 from six for a formidable $102,167 average.

CBS Films opened The To-Do List starring Aubrey Plaza at number 15 on a mediocre $1.5m from 591 while

Next weekend’s wide releases include the action comedy 2 Guns starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg through Universal and Sony’s animation The Smurfs 2.

Estimated Top 10 North America Jul 26-28 2013
Film (Dist) / Est wkd gross / Est total to date
1 (-) The Wolverine (Fox) Fox Int’l, $55m –
2 (1) The Conjuring (Warner Bros) WBPI $22.1m $83.9m
3 (2) Despicable Me 2 (Universal) UPI $16m $306.4m
4 (3) Turbo (Fox-DreamWorks Animation) Fox Int’l $13.3m $55.8m
5 (4) Grown Ups 2 (Sony) SPRI $11.5m $101.7m
6 (5) Red 2 (Lionsgate-Summit) Lionsgate Int’l $9.4m $35.1m
7 (6) Pacific Rim (Warner Bros) WBPI $7.5m $84m
8 (8) The Heat (Fox) Fox Int’l $6.9m $141.2m
9 (7) R.I.P.D. (Universal) UPI $5.9m $24.4m
10 (17) Fruitvale Station (TWC) TWC $4.7m $6.3m

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