Weekend movie preview: Will 'The Wolverine' sink or soar?

Hollywood must be holding its collective breath right now, because at long last, one of the most anticipated blockbuster movies of the summer is finally coming out. James Mangold's The Wolverine, starring Hugh Jackman in the role that made him a bona fide superstar, is the only major weekend movie release. In a summer that has seen a lot of mega-films tank very quickly, and very badly, can The Wolverine buck the trend?

I would think so. Despite the fact that a lot of us weren't entirely nuts about 2009's X-Men prequel, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, we'll probably all trudge to the theater to see this new Wolverine movie anyway. Maybe. I haven't decided whether I'm actually going. At last check, reviews for The Wolverine were just so-so, and with ticket prices at my local theater going up YET again this week (to $10), I'm not sure I want to shell out the money just to be disappointed.

Despite all the hype The Wolverine is getting, movie goers do have a couple of other options, depending on where they live. The raunchy comedy The To Do List, starring Aubrey Plaza (yay!) and Woody Allen's very well-reviewed comedy Blue Jasmine are both out in limited release. And, if you're really lucky, the apparently amazing drama Fruitvale Station is rolling out into additional theaters this weekend, too. Be sure to check, because I have a feeling Fruitvale is going to get some big Oscar buzz, especially for the movie's star, Michael B. Jordan.

With the new DVD releases looking thin and really only one big new blockbuster coming out this weekend, what will you see, if anything? Unfortunately, none of the films I'm really most eager to see are playing here (including the coming-of-age movie The Way, Way Back that's getting so much great buzz), so I'm either stuck with The Wolverine or, maybe, just maybe, Fruitvale Station will open (at the moment I still don't know). I have friends who want me to go see The Conjuring with them again. No way, no how, I'm still freaked out from that one days later.
 
In a summer that has many people, including me, questioning whether Steven Spielberg was right to sound the death knell for the "blockbuster" movie model as we know it, one more failure could spell disaster for the entire industry. I think The Wolverine will do okay at the weekend box office, but it's not going to pull numbers like an Iron Man 3 or even Man of Steel.

Photo courtesy of EW.com