Perhaps this doesn’t sound right. But it’s true.Deadpoolhas officially earned more at the domestic box office than any previous X-Men movie or spinoff. And it’s only in its second weekend of release. In the states, the film has pulled in $235 million, topping 2006’sX-Men: The Last Stand, which had a total domestic gross of $234.3 million. Worldwide,Deadpoolis sitting pretty with $491.8 million thus far.X-Men: The Last Standonly managed to do $459.3 million globally. But when it comes to worldwide receipts,X-Men: Days of Future Pastis still king with $747 million. Domestically, it is the third highest grossing X-Men movie of all-time with $233.9 million.
Deadpooldominated it’s second weekend at the box office with a total of $55 million. While the opening weekend numbers are obviously of critical importance to any movie’s success, the second weekend often indicates how much longevity a film may have in theaters.Deadpoolis still riding high on plenty of critical buzz (84% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and positive word-of-mouth. The movie dropped 58.5% in its second weekend, despite being shown in 164 more theaters for a theater count of 3,722. A second-weekend drop between 50% and 60% is becoming par for the course for blockbusters likeDeadpool, but it’s still a tad on the high side.
Deadpoolshattered the record for highest grossing R-rated opening weekend of $91.7 million, held for 13 years byThe Matrix Reloaded. It also brokeFifty Shades of Grey’s February record of $85.1 million, along with its four-day President’s Day weekend record ($93 million), the record for highest-grossing R-rated comic book adaptation (300, $70.8 million), largest winter opening weekend (American Sniper, $89.2 million) and it became the biggest opening ever for 20th Century Fox, surpassing 2005’sStar Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sithrecord of $108.4 million.
Deadpool’s domestic tally is now $235.3 million, with an additional $256.5 million internationally for a worldwide total of $491.8 million. The movie was produced on just a $58 million budget, which is quite low for your average superhero movie. It’s also worth noting that, last month, early projections predicted the highly-anticipatedBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justicewill earn $154 million on its opening weekend, and that’s with a PG-13 rating and two of the most beloved heroes on the planet featured in the same movie. Obviously, those numbers could, and most likely will, change, especially sinceDeadpool’s early projections put it between $55 million and $60 million. Still, forDeadpoolto earn so much with the restrictive R rating, opening higher than all of the otherX-Menmovies, it could provide a wake-up call to studios that may lead to more R-rated fare.
The Wolverineis the lowest grossing X-Men movie of all time. The Logan spinoff only managed to pull in $132 million at the domestic box office, with a worldwide tally of $414.8 million. It is being reported that 20th Century Fox is planning to releaseWolverine 3with an R Rating. Obviously, they are hoping this will giveHugh Jackman’s final X-Men sequel a boost at the box office.X-Men: Apocalypseis the next official chapter in the X-Men cinematic universe. It arrives this summer with a PG-13 rating. Will it be able to beatDeadpoolat the box office? Or will Xavier’s new team of super powered mutants fall to the back seat in the wake of Wade Wilson’s blockbuster success?
