Ryan Reynolds Turning Heads and Cashin’ Checks
13 Feb, 2016
Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool earned a record $47.5 million on Friday, putting in course for an estimated three-day gross of $117 million and a stunning four-day haul of $130 million over the long Valentine’s Day/Presidents Day weekend — among the top 10 comic book openings of all time and the biggest ever for an R-rated title. (Only 10 superhero movies have crossed $100 million in any given three-day weekend.)
Deadpool is a sizeable victory for Reynolds and Fox, who spent 11 years debating whether to make the irreverent movie, since it’s one of the rare Marvel comic book movies to be rated R. Heading into the holiday weekend, tracking had suggested it would open to $65 million or $70 million over the long holiday weekend.
But estimates kept being revised upwards on Friday as grosses poured.
Fox made Deadpool with Marvel Enterprises via its licensing deals for the X-Men universe of characters, and, along with Reynolds, spent months aggressively marketing the movie. (Sometimes, the campaign was as irreverent and out there as the film itself). The net budget is $58 million, a modest number for a major studio superhero title. Deadpool is playing in 3,558 theaters, including Imax locations.
Deadpool will easily claim the top Presidents Day opening of all time, blowing away the $94 million earned last year by Fifty Shades of Grey over the four-day weekend, as well as the top February launch in history. Friday’s tally — the biggest ever for February — included $12.7 million in Thursday night previews, a record for an R-rated film, as well as for the month.
A passion project for Reynolds, the irreverent, tongue-in-cheek movie follows Wade Wilson (aka Deadpool), a foul-mouthed, witty mercenary who was bestowed with special powers after undergoing an experimental treatment for cancer. The actor first appeared as the character in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. In Deadpool — which is outpacing the openings of all previous X-Menfilms — the superhero seeks revenge against those who subjected him to the treatment.
In terms of comic book openings, Deadpool looks to share rarefied air and place No. 8 behind the two The Avengers movies, Iron Man 3, the last two Dark Knight films, Spider-Man 3 and Iron Man 2. Those it stands to beat include Man of Steel, Spider-Man, X-Men: The Last Stand, Iron Man, Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
All of those were rated PG-13. Deadpool‘s rating is considered a “hard” R, and theaters across the country will likely be monitoring ticket buyers to make sure those under 17 years of age unaccompanied by a parent or adult guardian don’t gain entry to the film, since teenagers are in the habit of seeing Marvel superhero movies on their own.
Deadpool is also off to an impressive start overseas, where it could earn north of $80 million for the weekend. Directed by Tim Miller, the movie also stars Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein, T.J. Miller and Gina Carano.
The Hollywood Reporter
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