Logan box office collection: Hugh Jackman's Wolverine 3 poised to become highest opening weekend grosser of 2017

After impressing critics and fans, Hugh Jackman's last Wolverine movie, Logan, has now taken the box office by storm. Logan is shattering the box office records, starting with Thursday night preview collections.

Also Read: Logan critics review 

The Jackman-starrer raked in $9.5 million from Thursday's previews that began at 7 pm. The Thursday preview collection has already shattered the preview records of X-Men: Apocalypse ($8.2 million) and Doctor Strange ($9.4 million). And now the film is set to record the biggest opening day and weekend collection of 2017.

The opening day box office collection of the R-rated movie is estimated to be $32.1 million (including Thursday's preview earnings), which will be the third highest for R-rated movies after Deadpool ($47.3 million) and The Matrix Reloaded ($37.5 million). Several trade experts even predict the highest opening weekend run of 2017.

As of now, The LEGO Batman movie holds the record for 2017's biggest opening weekend grosser with $53 million earning, but now Fox's comic book adaptation is expected to take over the top spot. Fox's third standalone Wolverine movie is expected to earn in the $75 million to $85 million range. If it earns in the expected range, it will be the second highest in the X-Men franchise. X-Men Origins: Wolverine grossed $85 million when it opened in 2009, while the sequel grossed $53 million in 2013 from its opening weekend run.

Critics and fans are all praise for Jackman's acting skills and the film. The film carries an excellent 93 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes after it premiered at the Berlin Film Festival on February 17.

Directed by James Mangold, the film features Jackman in the titular role, and Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant, Richard E Grant, and Patrick Stewart among others. The film released worldwide on March 3.