With about $925 million in global receipts as it headed into its third weekend, Marvel Studios’ Deadpool & Wolverine is carrying its superhero road-trip to another record level as it celebrates becoming the second $1 billion box office earner of 2024. Inside Out 2 is the only other film this year that’s managed the feat to date.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JULY 25: A drone and fireworks display is seen for “Marvel Studios: The … [+]
Needing only around $37 million from each of domestic and international box office this weekend, director Shawn Levy’s Deadpool & Wolverine should easily sail past those figures with at least $55 million from North American ticket sales alone, plus another $60 million or more from foreign markets. With Saturday’s box office, Deadpool & Wolverine should cross the finish line to $1 billion.
That should bring the Ryan Reynolds (who also cowrote with Levy) and Hugh Jackman superhero buddy pic to at least $1.03 billion by end of business Sunday.
Deadpool & Wolverine is already the top live-action movie of 2024 by a wide margin, followed by Dune: Part Two. Also from the Disney family of studios, Inside Out 2 is by far the biggest film of the year overall at $1.56 billion and counting. That gives Disney both billion dollar performers so far this year.
While it currently sits at $1.56 billion globally, Inside Out 2 seems positioned to add another $20-30 million to that cume, making a run at (but probably falling short of) $1.6 billion — unless it continues to overperform as it has its entire run, in which case it’s still probably possible Pixar’s animated blockbuster sequel could wind up higher.
Deadpool & Wolverine will become the 11th-highest grossing Marvel Studios release in 17 year history, and will thereafter move another stop up that chart before it finishes its theatrical run. I have separate coverage this weekend of Deadpool & Wolverine’s ranking among the rest of the MCU billion dollar earners, so be sure to check that out here.
Deadpool & Wolverine is also climbing the R-rated box office charts, where it’s set to become the second-highest grossing film behind 2019’s Joker, and it will take that top position eventually. You can read more about that — plus a lot more R-rated superhero cinema — in another article I’ll be publishing this weekend here at Forbes.
Meanwhile, the PG-13 Borderlands — adapting the video game series from Gearbox Software — did weak preview business Thursday for just over $1.3 million, heading into a weekend that looks to be a face plant at the box office for the would-be franchise starter. On pace for only about $10-12 million, the film was actually positioned well to play as a PG-13 alternative for older kids and teens who can’t get into Deadpool & Wolverine and have already seen Inside Out 2.
But it’s not enough anymore to stick a brand name on some adaptation sporting a bunch of CGI and a few stars’ names on the poster and expect people to show up. I have not seen Borderlands, so I cannot speak personally to its quality, but the film currently sits at an awful 10% at Rotten Tomatoes (meaning 90% of reviews dubbed it “Rotten”) and audience ranks from various measurements are coming in poor as well.
When critics and audiences are that much in agreement that a film isn’t very good and not worth recommending, it simply isn’t going to do much business. I don’t enjoy seeing anyone’s art fail, and we all want theaters to stay healthy, but there’s no point denying what’s happening or why, as we assess the box office.
So while Borderlands was never a serious threat to Deadpool & Wolverine’s box office glory, that film’s stumble is good news for the MCU, since it helps the super-sequel further overperform past the $1 billion mark.
Alien: Romulus is the next potential challenger in the theatrical marketplace, arriving next weekend as another R-rated sequel with a lot of hype and fan hopes baked into it. But even if it manages to top the weekend box office and push Deadpool & Wolverine to second place, it’s another Disney studio family release, so they’re all playing on the same box office team.
