Before this weekend, the biggest R rated movie opening weekends belonged to the first two ‘Deadpool’ movies, and now “Deadpool and Wolverine” has opened to $205M, the biggest weekend ever for an R rated movie, far exceeding previous record holder, 2016’s “Deadpool” ($132M).
“Deadpool & Wolverine” has turned into the commercial triumph we all expected it to become, and it’ll easily hit the $1B worldwide mark in no time. Internationally, “Deadpool & Wolverine” logged in another $115M. It’s really unprecedented stuff. When all is said and done, this could very well end up being the highest grossing movie of the year.
Say what you will about “Deadpool & Wolverine”, which has split critics, but Disney has saved this year’s summer movie season with this movie and the almost equally successful “Inside Out 2.” A sequel will inevitably get greenlit. I also expect both characters to show up in the next ‘Avengers’ movies, set for 2026 and 2027 release.
Forget about critics. Audiences seem to love “Deadpool & Wolverine”. An 8.3 on IMDb, 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, 94% PostTrak and “A” on CinemaScore — only six other Marvel movies have gotten an “A” or higher on CinemaScore (“Avengers: Endgame,” “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” “Iron Man,” “Black Panther,” “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and “Avengers: Infinity War” and “The Avengers.”)
I actually find that number optimistic. Tickets for “Digger” go on sale next Tuesday, and presales will give us a better picture of how bad it’s looking.