Deadpool + Wolverine=Marvel’s cash cow.
‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ continued to make box office history and shatter records in its second weekend, soaring to a better-than-expected $97 million domestically — the eighth biggest second weekend of all time and the fifth biggest for an MCU title — bringing its 10-day North American total to $395.6 million. It fell just 53 percent, a notable feat.
Overseas, the Marvel Studios and Disney tentpole earned another $110.5 million, reaching a foreign tally of $428.5 million and a global total of $824.1 million. (Expect ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ to join the billion-dollar box office club within days.)
The film achieved several key milestones, marking another major feather-in-the-mask for star and franchise mastermind Ryan Reynolds. The Deadpool threequel supplanted Mel Gibson’s ‘The Passion of the Christ’ ($371.1 million) as the top-grossing R-rated movie of all time domestically, not adjusted for inflation.
It also surpassed the entire lifetime runs of the first two Deadpool films, both domestically and globally, after just two weekends in theaters. ‘Deadpool’ earned $363.1 million domestically for a global total of $782.6 million; the second film’s domestic haul was $318.5 million for a worldwide total of $734.5 million.
‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ shot up the list of top-grossing R-rated films worldwide to No. 3. Todd Phillips’ ‘Joker’ currently holds the top spot at $1.064 billion, but ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ is expected to overtake it within a week or so (predictions suggest the film will ultimately land in the $1.2 billion range). Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’ is currently at No. 2 globally for an R-rated film with $975.2 million.
Between summer hits like ‘Inside Out 2’ — the top animated film of all time with a running total of $1.56 billion — and ‘Deadpool & Wolverine,’ Disney has become the first studio to cross the $3 billion mark in worldwide ticket sales.
‘Deadpool & Wolverine,’ directed by Shawn Levy and co-starring Hugh Jackman, is leaps and bounds ahead of the competition this weekend, although Amblin Entertainment’s ‘Twisters’ is holding its own.
‘Twisters,’ distributed by Universal domestically, dropped 37 percent in its third weekend to $22.7 million, bringing its domestic total to $195.6 million.
M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap,’ starring Josh Hartnett, opened in third place with an estimated $15.6 million, in line with expectations. Warner Bros. is distributing the thriller, which is battling generally lukewarm reviews and a C+ CinemaScore.
Illumination and Universal’s animated event pic ‘Despicable Me 4’ crossed the $300 million mark domestically after earning another $11.3 million, reaching a worldwide total of $752.2 million. Pixar’s ‘Inside Out 2’ followed in fifth place with an estimated $6.7 million, bringing its global haul to $1.55 billion, the best showing of all time for an animated film.
The boom at the family box office didn’t apply, however, to Sony’s new book-to-film adaptation ‘Harold and the Purple Crayon,’ which opened in sixth place. The kids’ movie is looking at a dismal $6 million opening, despite an A- CinemaScore from those who did turn up. Critics, however, panned the pic. Overseas, it earned just $3 million from its first 32 markets.
Neon’s thriller ‘Longlegs’ continued to scare up nice business, earning $4.4 million to place seventh, finishing Sunday with a domestic total of $70 million, a huge sum for an indie film these days.
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