'The Wolverine' Misses Revenue Expectations, But Still Takes #1 Weekend Spot (FOXA)

Headlines in the mainstream press indicate that

was a box office

.

The film earned

worldwide last weekend. More than half of that revenue ($86.1 million) came from ticket sales outside of the United States. Hollywood is typically proud to celebrate a film's global success, but

follows a long list of

films that have earned big bucks domestically.

Critically,

was the least successful film in the franchise. It received an average Metacritic score of

, compared to a 60 out of 100 average for the other

flicks. It is not hard to imagine that some moviegoers were so turned off by that film that they were hesitant to see

movie starring the same character.

, which did not feature more than a cameo of Wolverine, only made

during its opening weekend. Thus, it appears that the same people who saw that film -- diehard

-- returned for

. This should be seen as a positive for the studio, which has been trying to re-boot the

franchise and breathe new life into the series. At the same time,

's global success should provide 21st Century Fox with renewed confidence in its decision to purchase the

license so many years ago. If not, the studio could always sell the rights back to

, who purchased Marvel a few years ago and would love to bring several key

to

.