QUICK TAKES - May 2, 2009

The summer movie season officially kicks off this weekend, and “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” is off to a fast start, grossing as much as an estimated $4.5 million in its late-night Thursday screenings in about 2,000 theaters.

Although the Hugh Jackman film has received mixed reviews, the fourth movie in the “X-Men” series could gross as much as $100 million in its first weekend, according to some industry predictions, although other box-office prognosticators say the final “Wolverine” number could be lower -- closer to $85 million.

A year ago, “Iron Man” grossed about $5 million in its Thursday screenings, but its showtimes started around 8 p.m., not at 12:01 a.m., as was the case with “Wolverine.” In its first weekend, the better-reviewed “Iron Man” grossed $102.1 million.

The website movietickets.com said that, though early “Wolverine” sales were strong, revenues were running at about half of what “Transformers” was doing at the same point two years ago, when “Transformers” grossed $70.5 million in its opening weekend.

-- John Horn