Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in “Deadpool & Wolverine.”
Jay Maidment/20th Century Studios/Marvel
The foul-mouthed mercenary is back on our big screens, and it’s phenomenal.
Directed by Shawn Levy in close collaboration with franchise creator and star Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool & Wolverine opened to a record-breaking $205 million in the U.S., making it the eighth-highest opening in film history before adjusting for inflation and by far the biggest opening for an R-rated movie. The previous record was held by the original Deadpool, which grossed $133.7 million.
The film also broke records globally, grossing $233.3 million internationally for a worldwide start of $438.3 million.
Heading into the weekend, the third film, which sees Reynolds reprising his role as Wade Wilson/Deadpool and Jackman rejoining the franchise as Logan/Wolverine, was projected to gross between $160 million and $175 million upon release, already a huge figure for a film with a restricted rating.
Further domestic stats include the film being the highest-grossing opening of all time for Reynolds, Levy and Jackman, the fifth-biggest opening for a superhero film, the biggest July opening of all time, the biggest opening so far in 2024 and the biggest opening since 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home.
It will be the biggest global release since Avatar: The Way of Water.
Deadpool & Wolverine was the first R-rated movie released by Disney, helping turn Kevin Feige’s Disney-owned Marvel back on its feet. The film’s success was buoyed by strong reviews, a stellar closing credits, and a 97% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, the second-highest score in Marvel movie history behind Sony and Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home.
The first Deadpool film made history when it was released in February 2016, grossing $133.7 million domestically and proving that superhero movies could still draw large audiences despite harsh reviews. A little over two years later, Deadpool 2 opened to $125.5 million.
Feige’s Marvel took over the Deadpool franchise when Marvel’s parent company Disney acquired 20th Century Fox, which held the rights to the X-Men characters.
Deadpool 3 isn’t the only headline-grabbing release from the Disney film empire. Pixar’s Inside Out 2, already the biggest animated movie of all time globally, has overtaken fellow Pixar film Incredibles 2 as the biggest animated movie of all time in North America with a cumulative gross of $613.4 million. Its worldwide total now stands at $1.5 billion.
While Marvel movies have dominated the box office, Twister seems to be holding up as a sophomore effort. Universal Pictures fell 57% to $36 million, leaving it in second place with a 10-day domestic gross of $155.6 million. The drop could have been much worse.
The hit horror film “Long Legs” grossed $58.6 million domestically, making it Neon’s biggest movie ever and setting a new box office record, previously held by Oscar-winning film “Parasite.”
There’s more to come.
