New in theaters: Wolverine, Ghost of Girlfriends Past, Battle for Terra

The blockbuster season has arrived.

Hugh Jackman’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine kicks things off this weekend and will rule the roost, taking in $75-100 million. The chick-flick Ghosts of Girlfriends Past with Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner should be solid counter programming, netting around $20 million. The only other new film, the Battle for Terra, is a 3-D animated sci-fi flick aimed at younger boys (action). It’s barely opening in over 1,000 theaters, so it won’t take in more than $5 million.

Obsessed, last week’s top film, should still take in $12-13 million and come in third at the box office. 17 Again and Fighting will be next, with around $5-6 million each.

None of the new films will be critical favorites, so long shelf lives are not in the cards for these flicks. Next weekend, however, opens the new Trek film. That will be the first huge hit of the year.

Opening this week:

X-Men Origins: Wolverine
The last X-Men movie sucked, and there were lots of positives (cast, director) that this flick would be a comeback. Unfortunately, reviews (critics and fans) have been pretty mixed (leaning toward bad). Even the trailers haven’t been particularly cool. The film will still do huge business, but at a cost of upwards of $200 million, the studio should realize you need a friggin’ story. Still, we love Jackman, and the Liev Schreiber (Sabretooth) and Danny Huston (Stryker) are great additions. The other mutants look good too. We’ll go, probably enjoy, but shrug at a missed opportunity.

Ghost of Girlfriends Past
Matthew McConaughey does Christmas Carol but without Christmas, finding out what a great chick he missed out on (Jennifer Garner). I wonder how it ends? The trailer has sold this to the girls – it looks like breezy fun, and reviews have pretty much borne that out. You know what you’re getting into with this.

Battle for Terra
This is a curious film. The humans are the bad guys? Okay, maybe not all of them, but it’s an odd sell. This is a serious sci-fi film, aimed at older kids (PG) – not a recipe for success (remember Titan A.E. – thought not)? The audience, unfortunately, are probably boys thinking they’re too old for cartoons.