Box Office Results: Deadpool & Wolverine Slice Up the Competition

comingsoon.net:

Everyone knew Marvel’s Deadpool & Wolverine box office results would be big, but few expected it to be this big.

The buddy comedy clawed its way to a massive $205 million domestic bow and $438.3M worldwide. That’s easily the biggest opening for an R-rated picture, handily surpassing Deadpool and Deadpool 2’s $132M and $125M, and the fifth-best opening for the MCU. D&W has already surpassed the lifetime gross of X-Men ($296M), X-men: First Class ($355M), X-Men Origins: Wolverine ($374M), X2: X-Men United ($407M), and The Wolverine ($416M) and should easily cut through the remaining X-Men and Deadpool films on its way to $1B. It will likely pass Joker’s $1.78B cume to claim the title for the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time.

Audiences awarded the Ryan Reynolds/Hugh Jackman vehicle a 97% RottenTomatoes score (compared to the 79% critic score), with many taking advantage of the premium formats. According to the trade, PLFs repped 30% of the weekend ticket sales, including $19.1M from Imax screens in North America and $36.5M from Imax screens globally.

Also of note, D&W’s massive haul pushes the MCU past the $30B mark, the first to do so. By comparison (and not adjusting for inflation), the No. 2 franchise, Star Wars, has earned $10.3 billion per The Numbers. Wow.

Last week’s champ, Twisters, came in second with $35.3M (-57%), raising its domestic total to $154.9M, while the Indie hit Longlegs reached $58.6M after three weeks of release.

This week sees the release of M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap, which is expected to do around $20-30M, and Harold and the Purple Crayon. Neither should topple D&W. Really, Marvel should enjoy smooth waters through August, with only Alien: Romulus potentially cutting into its sales midway through the month.

1.) Deadpool & Wolverine (Dis) 4,210 theaters Fri $96M, Sat $61.5M Sun $47.5M 3-day $205M/Wk 1

2.) Twisters (Uni/WB) 4,151 theaters, Fri $10.3M Sat $13.8M Sun $11.1M, 3-day$35.3M (-57%), Total $154.9M/Wk 2

3.) Despicable Me 4 (Uni)