Disney/Marvel Studios’ “Deadpool & Wolverine” has proven to be the massive hit everyone expected it to be, earning a spectacular $96 million opening day from 4,210 screens — including $38.5 million from Thursday previews — and is now set to be the first R-rated film to earn a $200 million-plus opening weekend.
The third installment of Ryan Reynolds’ irreverent, gory superhero series would be the ninth film — and sixth from Marvel Studios — to cross the rare $200 million mark.
The other films in that rare club include three “Avengers” films — the first crossover epic in 2012 along with “Infinity War” and “Endgame” — the “Star Wars” films “The Force Awakens” and “The Last Jedi,” “Black Panther,” “Jurassic World,” and most recently, “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”
With rave reception from Marvel fans, including an A on CinemaScore, along with a projected $240 million overseas launch, “Deadpool & Wolverine” is already a lock to join “Joker” as the second R-rated $1 billion box office hit in history. It’s likely that many hardcore fans will turn out for repeat viewings to catch the myriad references to past Marvel films that they may have missed the first time around.
Among holdovers, Universal’s “Twisters” is holding respectably against “Deadpool,” earning $36 million in its second weekend for a 56% drop against its $82 million opening weekend. Driven primarily by American audiences, the disaster blockbuster has an estimated 10-day domestic total of $155 million.
Meanwhile, Disney/Pixar’s “Inside Out 2” has made more box office history, passing fellow Pixar sequel “Incredibles 2” to become the highest grossing animated film ever in North America before inflation adjustment. With an industry estimated $8.6 million grossed in its seventh weekend, the film now has a domestic total of $613 million, putting it among the top 15 highest grossing films ever.
