Analysts claimed on Sunday that the new Disney/Marvel comedy “Deadpool & Wolverine” had a “spectacular” debut this weekend in North American theaters, taking in a whopping USD 205 million, which not only put it in the upper echelon of superhero movies but also made it the eighth-biggest opening ever.
“The numbers are fantastic,” said David A Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research. “These characters’ popularity is growing, not slowing.”
The film is enjoying positive reviews and “excellent” audience scores, Gross said. The popularity of Ryan Reynolds (who plays Deadpool and shares a writing credit), and his real-life pal Hugh Jackman (Wolverine)– didn’t hurt, either.
Variety claims that the debut is only slightly behind “Jurassic World” (USD 208 million in 2015) and just ahead of 2018’s “Black Panther,” which opened to USD 202 million. The astounding USD 233.3 million has already been sold in international tickets.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, it also had the greatest opening ever for an R-rated movie (not adjusted for inflation), easily outpacing the previous record-holder, the first “Deadpool” (USD 133.7 million).
According to industry analyst Exhibitor Relations, it left Universal’s weather thriller “Twisters,” which was the weekend’s biggest movie, twisting in the dust at a sum that otherwise would have been a respectable USD 35.3 million.
In this independent sequel to the critically acclaimed “Twister” from 1996, Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones assume the roles of daring storm chasers stranded in rapidly approaching tornadoes.
Universal’s animated comedy “Despicable Me 4” came in third place for the Friday–Sunday window, grossing USD 14.2 million during its fourth weekend of release. In North America, ticket sales have reached a total of USD 291.0 million thus far.
With USD 8.3 million, Disney and Pixar’s coming-of-age cartoon “Inside Out 2” fell one spot to fourth place.
At USD 6.8 million, the horror mystery “Longlegs” dropped one spot as well. The movie, the all-time biggest earner from independent company Neon, starring Nicolas Cage.
These films, which brought in a total of USD 3.0 million, included “A Quiet Place: Day One,” “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” “The Fabulous Four,” “Fly Me to the Moon,” “USD 750,000,” and “Raayan” (USD 375,000) rounding out the top 10.
