Marvel put all its eggs in a chaotic basket with Deadpool & Wolverine. Not only is it the franchise’s only film of 2024, but it’s also the movie that moves Deadpool, Wolverine, and the rest of the X-Men into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
That risk has paid off. Ever since its release last week, the movie has outdone expectations and smashed box-office records.
According to Variety, Deadpool & Wolverine had the sixth-highest opening day of all time, earning $96 million. The five movies above it are all Disney properties: three other Marvel movies (Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Avengers: Infinity War) and two Star Wars movies (The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi).
It also obliterated the record for the biggest opening weekend for an R-rated movie, earning $205 million to easily outdo the previous top two films... Deadpool and Deadpool 2. Throw in the international box office, and the movie made an impressive $438 million over the weekend, easily making back its estimated $300 million production and marketing budget.
That’s just the start of the records Deadpool & Wolverine set. It also had the biggest opening for a July movie release, the second-biggest opening for a threequel, and it’s made the Marvel Cinematic Universe the highest-grossing movie franchise ever, with $30 billion made over 34 movies. This all looks like proof that what Deadpool & Wolverine tapped into — the combination of meta-humor, irreverence, and nostalgia — is what MCU fans enjoy. With Avengers: Doomsday bringing back Robert Downey, Jr., it looks like a focus on nostalgic, self-referential choices will continue. If so, hopefully Deadpool has proved that you can look backward while still producing a decent movie.
