Marvel is back on top with Deadpool & Wolverine. The comic-book movie made a staggering $205m in its first weekend in North American theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday. It shattered the opening record for R-rated films previously held by the first Deadpool ($132m) and notched a spot in the top 10 openings of all time.
Including international showings, where it’s racked up an additional $233.3m from 52 markets, Deadpool & Wolverine is looking at a global opening of more than $438.3m.
Fittingly for both characters’ introduction to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Deadpool & Wolverine played less like earlier X-Men or Deadpool movies and more like an Avengers pic. In the top domestic opening weekends ever, Deadpool & Wolverine is seated in eighth place between The Avengers ($207.4m) and “Black Panther” ($202m), bumping Avengers: Age of Ultron ($191.3m) out of the top 10.
It’s by far the biggest opening of the year, unseating Disney’s Inside Out 2 ($154.2m) and the most tickets a movie has sold in its debut weekend since Barbie ($162m) stormed theaters last July. Playing in 4,210 locations, Deadpool & Wolverine also surpassed 2019’s The Lion King ($191.8m) to become the biggest July opening ever, and is the 34th consecutive MCU movie to debut in first place. And these are numbers previously thought impossible for an R-rated film.
The Walt Disney Studios release arrived at a pivotal time for an industry grappling with box office returns that continue to run at a double-digit deficit from last year. The success is also an important moment for Marvel Studios, which has had several high-profile disappointments lately, most notably in The Marvels which opened to an MCU low of $47m last November.
Superheroes have been struggling even more elsewhere: Sony, which reached a high point with Spider-Man: No Way Home ($1.9bn worldwide) had a new low with Madame Web, which barely crossed $100m. Warner Bros Discovery, after a string of disappointments with The Flash and Blue Beetle, is currently working on restarting their DC universe under the supervision of James Gunn.
Going into the weekend, $200m domestic seemed like a pipe dream. Analysts were more conservative with predictions in the $160m range. But from the start of the 3pm Thursday preview screenings it was clear that Deadpool & Wolverine was more powerful. By the end of Friday, it had already made $96m and recieved a coveted A CinemaScore from audiences. Critics, too, have been mostly positive. Premium screens, including Imax and other large formats, accounted for 18% of the total box office.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige debuted the news in San Diego as the studio made its return to San Diego Comic-Con over the weekend. Feige kicked off the panel by saying that due to this weekend’s success of Deadpool & Wolverine, the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe had now topped $30bn in box-office earnings. In a nod to a scene in the movie, a choir sang Madonna’s Like a Prayer before Feige spoke.
The panel included surprise guest Robert Downey Jr who will return to Marvel’s films, but not as Iron Man. He’ll play the villain Victor Von Doom, or Doctor Doom, in at least one of the upcoming Avengers movies. Downey kicked off Marvel’s movie successes in Iron Man and played the popular character in nine films, but on Saturday appeared wearing Dr Doom’s mask and a green cloak.
“New mask, same task,” Downey said to frenzied cheers.
The top domestic opening of all time still firmly belongs to Avengers: Endgame with $357.1m. It’s followed by Spider-Man: No Way Home ($260.1m), Avengers: Infinity War ($257.6m), Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($247.9m) and Star Wars: The Last Jedi ($220m).