Get ready for the Ryan Reynolds-Hugh Jackman film to make even more noise in its second weekend, following its record-breaking debut. Ryan Reynolds, known for filling his Deadpool movies with industry jokes, has finally seen his wish come true. In the 2018 sequel, Deadpool mused about surpassing the $370.8 million earned by Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ in North America, aiming to become the highest-grossing R-rated film domestically. While the first Deadpool achieved greater global earnings ($782 million compared to $612 million), it didn’t surpass The Passion of the Christ in the US.
This weekend, Deadpool & Wolverine, which has been breaking records since its release, will finally achieve that milestone. The film has amassed an impressive $298.3 million domestically through Thursday and is expected to add another $85 million to $95 million this weekend, bringing its total to between $380 million and $390 million. This will make it the top R-rated film of all time in North America.
Marvel Studios and Disney’s Deadpool & Wolverine, directed by Shawn Levy and co-starring Hugh Jackman, faces minimal competition in its second weekend and is expected to remain at the top of the box office. M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap, starring Josh Hartnett, is projected to open with over $15 million domestically, while Harold and the Purple Crayon, based on the beloved children’s book, is anticipated to open with single-digit earnings.
On Friday, Deadpool & Wolverine will surpass Deadpool 2’s lifetime domestic earnings of $318.5 million and continue to break records. The original Deadpool earned $363.1 million domestically and $782.6 million globally, while the sequel grossed $734.5 million worldwide.
Other records to watch for this weekend include Deadpool & Wolverine surpassing the lifetime earnings of the first two films both domestically and globally within just two weeks. Its worldwide total is expected to reach $785 million to $800 million by Sunday, making it the third-highest-grossing R-rated film worldwide. Currently, Todd Phillips’ Joker holds the top spot with $1.064 billion, but Deadpool & Wolverine is expected to surpass that, potentially reaching $1.2 billion.
Hollywood skeptics doubted that an R-rated film could perform like an all-audience blockbuster, but Deadpool & Wolverine has defied expectations, sharing the spotlight with major franchises like Avengers and Star Wars. Here are some of the key records it has broken so far:
Sixth Biggest Domestic Opening of All Time:
- Avengers: Endgame — $355.1 million
- Spider-Man: No Way Home — $355.1 million
- Avengers: Infinity War — $257.7 million
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens — $248 million
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi — $220 million
- Deadpool & Wolverine — $211.4 million
- Jurassic World — $208.8 million
- The Avengers — $207.4 million
- Black Panther — $202 million
- The Lion King (2019) — $191.8 million
Fourth Biggest Hollywood Superhero Opening:
Only Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Avengers: Infinity War had larger domestic openings.
Biggest R-Rated Opening, Both Domestically and Globally:
- Deadpool & Wolverine — $211.4 million
- Deadpool — $132.2 million
- Deadpool 2 — $125.5 million
- It — $123.4 million
- Joker — $96.2 million
- The Matrix Reloaded — $91.8 million
- It Chapter Two — $91.1 million
- Logan — $21.7 million
- The Hangover 2 — $85.9 million
- Fifty Shades of Grey — $85.2 million
Biggest July Opening of All Time Domestically:
Deadpool & Wolverine surpassed notable films such as The Lion King ($191.8 million), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 ($169.2 million), Barbie ($162 million), and The Dark Knight Rises ($160.9 million).
Miscellaneous Records:
- Biggest domestic opening since Spider-Man: No Way Home in December 2021.
- Third-highest grossing film of 2024 domestically after just seven days, surpassing Dune: Part 2 ($282 million).
- Expected to become the second-biggest film of 2024 domestically by surpassing Despicable Me 4 ($303 million), behind Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2, which has earned over $620 million domestically.
- Globally, Inside Out 2 is now the 10th highest-grossing film of all time, with over $1.5 billion in worldwide ticket sales.