May 4 (Bloomberg) -- “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” opened as the top film over the weekend, kicking off a potentially record setting summer movie season with $87 million in ticket sales for News Corp.’s Fox studio.

The superhero drama starring Hugh Jackman helped boost sales for the sixth-straight weekend, Hollywood.Com Box-Office, which tracks receipts, said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. Among the other new films, the romantic comedy “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past” was second with $15.3 million.

Studios are benefiting from a surge in attendance that has helped lift ticket revenue 16 percent as of May 3. The increase has put Hollywood on course for record summer sales of $4.6 billion and a new high of $10.5 billion for the year, according to Los Angeles-based Hollywood.com Box-Office. The summer season typically accounts for about 40 percent of the annual box office take.

“This is the most amazing year because what you’re seeing is recessionary movie-going,” said Paul Dergarabedian, box- office analyst for Hollywood.com. “Going to the movies has become a necessity with a price point people can accept. It will be a record because of the framework the recession is providing.”

‘Ghosts’

“Wolverine” was expected to take in as much as $92 million, the forecast of Steve Mason, an analyst at BigHollwood.Breitbart.com. The film explains the background of Wolverine, a mutant superhero armed with talons that burst from his hands during fights. Jackman played the character in the previous films.

“X-Men” characters are based on the comic books published by Marvel Entertainment Inc.

Jackman helped drive sales. In a survey of 1,000 customers by online ticket vendor Fandango.com, 72 percent said the “Australia” star was main reason they wanted to see the film.

“Ghosts of Girlfriends Past” stars Matthew McConaughey as a callous bachelor who is visited by the ghosts of jilted girlfriends who force him to revisit failed relationships. Jennifer Garner co-stars in the film from Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros.

‘The Soloist’

Last week’s top film, “Obsessed,” dropped to third place with $12.2 million in sales. The film, starring Beyonce Knowles, has taken in $47 million since it opened. Sony Corp. is the distributor.

The comedy “17 Again,” starring Zac Efron, fell to fourth from second with $6.4 million in sales for Warner Bros. Efron plays the younger version of a man who wakes up to find he’s a teenager again.

“Monsters vs. Aliens,” the 3-D feature from DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., was fifth, up from sixth last week, earning $5.8 million. The movie is about a group of monsters called on to battle invaders from outer space.

“The Soloist,” from Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks SKG, was sixth, taking in $5.6 million. The film, starring Robert Downey Jr., is based on the real-life friendship between Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez and a homeless violinist.

“Battle for Terra,” the animated film from Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., opened in 12th place with $1.1 million. The movie, features Justin Long, Evan Rachel Wood and James Garner as humans who survive the destruction of Earth seek to establish a new home by invading a peaceful planet.

The following table has figures provided by studios to Hollywood.com Box-Office. The amounts are based on actual ticket sales on May 1-2 and estimates for yesterday.

                         Rev.           Avg./   Pct. Total
Movie                   (mln) Theaters  Theater Chg. (mln)  Wks
================================================================

1 WOLVERINE             $87.0   4,099  $21,225   --  $87.0    1
2 GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS  15.3   3,175    4,827   --   15.3    1
3 OBSESSED               12.2   2,514    4,853   -57  47.0    2
4 17 AGAIN                6.4   3,255    1,952   -45  48.5    3
5 MONSTERS VS. ALIENS     5.8   2,626    2,209   -32 182.4    6
6 THE SOLOIST             5.6   2,033    2,755   -42  18.1    2
7 EARTH                   4.18  1,804    2,319   -53  21.8    2
8 FIGHTING                4.17  2,312    1,805   -62  17.5    2
9 HANNAH MONTANA          4.1   2,819    1,446   -37  70.9    4
10 STATE OF PLAY          3.7   2,445    1,495   -47  30.9    3
11 FAST & FURIOUS         2.7   2,547    1,070   -56 149.8    5
12 BATTLE FOR TERRA       1.1   1,162      916   --    1.1    1

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael White in Los Angeles at mwhite@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 4, 2009 03:01 EDT