Movie shows origin of Wolverine

Movie: "X-Men Origins: Wolverine"

When: Opening Friday at local theaters

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Ryan Reynolds, Danny Huston

Director: Gavin Hood

The story: Wondering how did angry, Adamantium-infused "X-Men" hero Wolverine (alias James Logan) get that way? Blame it on brother-in-arms Victor Creed (the future Sabretooth), whose murderous back-stabbing inspires the vengeful Logan to join the for-mutants-only Weapon X program.

The buzz: Wolverine may be indestructible, but can he withstand the recent online leak of a bootleg copy of the movie -- even missing several special-effects shots and 20 minutes of footage? But this "X-Men" spinoff still boasts definite pulling power: MovieTickets.com reports that "Wolverine" was outselling "Iron Man" (last summer's first-out-of-the-gate comic book adaptation) 3-to-1 a little more than a week before its release date. Despite his might, however, Wolverine's no match for the Starship Enterprise crew: MovieTickets.com has already sold 25 percent more advance tickets for "Star Trek" than for "Wolverine," despite the fact that "Star Trek" doesn't beam down to theaters for another week.