Topline
The first and only major release of the year in the Marvel Cinematic Universe delivered a major boost to the box office and the franchise as a whole, which hit the $30 billion global gross mark with the $438 million worldwide opening of “Deadpool & Wolverine”—as the latest Deadpool film broke several domestic records over the weekend.
Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in “Deadpool & Wolverine.”
Key Facts
“Deadpool & Wolverine,” the third film starring Ryan Reynolds as foul-mouthed superhero Deadpool, grossed $205 million domestically in its opening weekend to score the eighth highest-grossing opening weekend ever.
The third Deadpool film easily broke the franchise’s own record to earn the biggest R-rated opening weekend ever, beating “Deadpool” ($132.4 million) and “Deadpool 2” ($125.5 million).
The $205 million domestic debut became the biggest film opening of the year by far, besting ” Inside Out 2” with $154.2 million and the $82.5 million of ” Dune: Part Two.”
The movie also gave a much-needed boost to the Marvel Cinematic Universe by delivering the best weekend performance for the franchise since “Avengers: Endgame” (the second highest-grossing film of all time) and pushed the MCU past the $30 billion gross mark globally, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige said at San Diego Comic-Con over the weekend.
The movie far outpaced its estimates of $160 to $170 million.
In second place for the weekend was Glen Powell’s ” Twisters” with $35.3 million, followed by “Despicable Me 4” at $14.2 million, “Inside Out 2” in fourth place with $8.3 million and “Longlegs” with an additional $6.7 million.
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Tangent
Reynolds and Jackman launched a worldwide press tour ahead of the “Deadpool” release that has been praised for its creativity and has had several moments go viral. The pair attended South Korea’s Waterbomb Festival on July 5, which saw the pair playing with massive water guns and elicited a quippy response from Reynolds’ wife, Blake Lively, who posted to Instagram “When he tells you he’s going to work and then you see him on MTV Spring Break.” The pair made appearances on viral online talk shows like “Chicken Shop Date” and “Hot Ones,” took a friendship quiz for GQ and competed in a chimichanga cook-off for famous celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay.
Surprising Fact
“Deadpool & Wolverine” grossed more than “Black Panther” (2018), “The Lion King” (2019) and “Avengers: Age of Ultron” (2015) did in their debut weekends. The movie now falls behind “Avengers: Endgame” (2019), “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (2021), “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018), “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens” (2015), “Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi” (2017), “Jurassic World” (2015) and “The Avengers” (2012) in domestic opening weekend gross.
What To Watch For
The next Marvel films. With delays due to last year’s actors and writers strikes, and plans for Marvel to slow down production, “Deadpool & Wolverine” is the only movie from the MCU slated for release this year. Next year will see “Captain America: Brave New World,” “Thunderbolts,” “The Fantastic Four” and “Blade.” At Comic-Con, it was announced that Joe and Anthony Russo, who directed the two most Avengers movies, will direct the next two:—”Avengers: Doomsday” and “Avengers: Secret War”—in 2026 and 2027, respectively. It was also announced that Robert Downey Jr., who kicked off the franchise as Iron Man, will return to Marvel as the character Dr. Victor von Doom in “Avengers: Doomsday.”
Further Reading
Mary Roeloffs is a Forbes reporter who covers breaking news with a frequent focus on the entertainment industry, streaming, sports news, publishing, pop culture and climate change. She joined Forbes in 2023 and lives in Dallas. She’s covered Netflix’s hottest documentaries, a surge of assaults reported on social media, the most popular books of the year and how climate change stands to impact the way we eat. Roeloffs was included on Editor & Publisher Magazine’s “ 25 Under 30” list in 2023 and worked covering local news in the greater Boston area from 2017 to 2023. She graduated with a double major in political science and journalism from Northeastern University. Follow Roeloffs for continued coverage of streaming wars, pop culture news and trending topics.
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