I thought it would open to a big box office.

Hugh Jackman has clawed in an impressive box office haul for his latest mutant movie X-men Origins: Wolverine – the blockbuster has grossed $35 million (£23.4 million) on its first day of release in the U.S.

The highly-anticipated film, which is a prequel to the original X-Men trilogy, tells the tale of Jackman’s character Wolverine – a self-healing superhero who has retractable metal claws.

And Jackman has gone down a storm with comic book fans – his solo X-Men outing took more money than the openings of the first two movies, X-Men and X2.

Only the franchise’s third film, X-Men: The Last Stand, enjoyed higher takings – it earned $45.1 million (£30.2 million) on its opening day in 2006.