When Hollywood’s power couple, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, go head-to-head at the box office, it’s a win-win situation. This weekend, both husband and wife emerged victorious, with their respective films taking the top two spots at the box office.
Deadpool & Wolverine Holds Strong
Ryan Reynolds’ Marvel Studios hit, “Deadpool & Wolverine,” continued its reign as the number one movie in North America for the third consecutive week. Pulling in $54.2 million, the R-rated superhero flick has now surpassed $1 billion globally. Directed by Shawn Levy, the film, which co-stars Hugh Jackman, is only the second R-rated movie to reach this milestone, following 2019’s “Joker.” With its strong performance, “Deadpool & Wolverine” is on track to become one of the most lucrative Marvel releases, trailing only Disney’s other 2024 smash, “Inside Out” ($1.6 billion worldwide).
It Ends With Us Exceeds Expectations
Close behind, Blake Lively’s “It Ends With Us,” a romance drama based on Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel, debuted with an impressive $50 million, surpassing early projections. Lively, who stars as Lily Bloom—a Boston florist torn between two men—also produced the film, which was directed by Justin Baldoni. With a production budget of just $25 million, “It Ends With Us” is poised to turn a significant profit for Columbia Pictures and Wayfarer Studios. Similar to other female-targeted summer releases like “Where the Crawdads Sing,” the film could maintain strong box office performance throughout the typically slower August period. Audiences have responded positively, giving it an A- CinemaScore.
Borderlands Flops
Not every release fared as well this weekend. “Borderlands,” a $120 million video game adaptation directed by Eli Roth, launched with a disappointing $8.8 million. Despite featuring a star-studded cast including Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, and Jack Black, the film struggled with delays and reshoots since its production in 2021. Its lukewarm reception, marked by a 10% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, suggests it could contend for one of the worst movies of the year.
Other Notable Performances
Elsewhere, the disaster thriller “Twisters” took third place with $15 million, while “Despicable Me 4” followed with $8 million. Indie horror film “Cuckoo,” set in the German Alps and directed by Tilman Singer, opened modestly with $3 million, featuring performances by Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens.
Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:
- Deadpool & Wolverine – $54.2 million
- It Ends With Us – $50 million
- Twisters – $15 million
- Borderlands – $8.8 million
- Despicable Me 4 – $8 million
- Trap – $6.7 million
- Inside Out 2 – $5 million
- Harold and the Purple Crayon – $3.1 million
- Cuckoo – $3 million
- Longlegs – $2 million
