Director Shawn Levy’s third installment, Deadpool & Wolverine, raked in an impressive $96 million on Friday at the domestic box office. This ranks as the sixth-biggest opening day ever, surpassing the final Harry Potter movie ($91.1 million), not adjusted for inflation.
Starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, this superhero film is set to break the record for the biggest R-rated opening ever, currently held by the first Deadpool at $133.7 million. Disney and Marvel are now predicting a $195 million to $205 million opening weekend, a feat no one thought possible for an R-rated film. This estimate far exceeds the pre-opening projections of $160 million to $175 million, which were already significant. It would also mark the highest openings ever for Reynolds, the mastermind behind the Deadpool franchise, as well as for Levy and Jackman.
Deadpool & Wolverine is Disney’s first R-rated release and marks a significant return to form for Kevin Feige’s Disney-owned Marvel after some recent challenges. The film boasts a 97 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, the second-highest ever for a Marvel movie, only behind Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Friday’s earnings include $38.5 million from Thursday previews.
The highly anticipated Deadpool sequel, featuring Reynolds as Wade Wilson/Deadpool and Jackman as Logan/Wolverine, is also performing exceptionally well overseas, with international earnings reaching $115.1 million by Friday. This brings the early global total to $211.1 million.
The movie’s success is driven by strong reviews and even stronger audience reactions on PostTrack, along with an A CinemaScore.
Reynolds, known for his promotional expertise, and his marketing team at Maximum Effort, in collaboration with Disney, have been working to expand the movie's audience by targeting female viewers. On Thursday, Taylor Swift, a close friend of Reynolds and his wife Blake Lively, used her substantial social media influence to endorse the movie, encouraging ticket purchases with a post saying, “if you like to see things that are unspeakably awesome.” She added a playful shoutout to Wade Wilson, referring to him as her god kids’ sperm donor.
Friday’s audience was predominantly male at 63 percent, consistent with typical superhero movie trends, but this gender gap may narrow as the weekend continues.
The first Deadpool made history with its $133.7 million domestic opening in February 2016, demonstrating that an R-rated superhero film could attract large audiences. Deadpool 2 followed in May 2018 with a $125.5 million debut.
Marvel Studios took over the Deadpool franchise when its parent company, Disney, acquired 20th Century Fox, which held the rights to the X-Men universe.
While Deadpool & Wolverine is dominating the box office, Twisters is holding its own in its second weekend. The Universal film is expected to drop 57 percent to $36 million, bringing its 10-day domestic total to $155 million.