MarvelBlog News for July 28th, 2024
This past weekend, Deadpool & Wolverine did the expected, perhaps proving Deadpool’s point that he is Marvel Jesus.
We’ll discuss everything up until the San Diego Comic-Con, which I’ll save for next week instead. Blame the Saturday deadline!
R-Rated Spectacle
Source: Fox/ Marvel
Let’s start with a fun fact about the Deadpool film franchise. It currently holds the record for an R-rated film’s opening weekend.
Correcting, Deadpool holds the TOP THREE opening weekend of box office ever for R-rated films.
Source: Marvel Studios/ @VancityReynolds
Deadpool and Deadpool 2 already held the record, but the latest film just destroyed both of them.
Specifically, estimates suggest that Deadpool & Wolverine has become the first R-rated movie ever to open to $200 million with a total of $205 million.
Source: Fox/ Marvel
Before this weekend, the record was the original Deadpool’s $132.4 million, followed closely by Deadpool 2’s $125.5 million.
Now, the third film has nearly matched them both! Of course, that wasn’t unexpected.
Source: @VancityReynolds
Marvel has been pointing to Deadpool 3 as its salvation for the body of a year.
Kevin Feige and his team made the unusual decision to punt on all other 2024 theatrical releases, leaving all the weight on Ryan Reynolds’ shoulders.
Source: @VancityReynolds
Fortunately, the Canadian was more than up to the challenge, thanks to the help of two other Canadians: director Shawn Levy and the character of Wolverine.
Not that long ago, Hugh Jackson didn’t just retire his adamantium claws, he buried them along with the rest of Wolverine.
Source: Marvel/ Fox
That happened in the film Logan, which proved a perfect capstone for Fox’s entire cinematic universe.
Then, The Walt Disney Company acquired Fox’s assets, which made all this possible.
Source: Fox/ Marvel
Disney suddenly owned the full rights to Deadpool, particularly the ability to make new movies.
Then again, that seemed like a long shot, given Disney’s century of producing family-friendly content versus…everything Deadpool has said and done.
The Disney Film You Needed
Free Guy Movie Poster. Photo: Fox
However, something unlikely happened along the way. During the pandemic, Free Guy suffered approximately seven trillion delays.
Each time, its star, Ryan Reynolds dutifully created some new viral video to explain why.
NY Post
Disney officials took notice of what a pro he was and decided a Deadpool film was worth the risk.
Then, Marvel suffered through a brutal 2022 and 2023, leaving fans complaining that the MCU was fresh out of magic.
Photo: FoxNews
Folks, I can assure you that nobody is saying that today. That’s because Deadpool 3 has turned into a perfect project.
Frankly, this movie is the movie Marvel has needed for a long time, especially on the Disney side.
Ryan Reynolds is Deadpool. Image: Marvel.com.
Excluding Spider-Man: No Way Home, which was technically a Sony release, Marvel’s had a grim five years since Avengers: Endgame.
Even bright spots like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness failed to earn $1 billion.
Photo: 21st Century Fox
After just three days, Deadpool & Wolverine has already reached $438 million worldwide, and that total doesn’t include China.
While the film earned a day-and-date release in China, Marvel hasn’t reported those numbers yet.
Photo: Ryan Reynolds on Twitter
So, the total is even bigger than it sounds, which is remarkable since Deadpool & Wolverine just did the impossible.
The R-rated film just destroyed Inside Out 2’s opening weekend to become the biggest of 2024 to date.
Photo: HELLO! Canada
In fact, the film had the best opening weekend in North America since No Way Home and was one of the top ten ever.
Similarly, Deadpool 3’s Friday box office of $96 million was sixth-best all-time.
More Good News
Even superheroes struggle with a remote workplace (sometimes). Photo: Ryan Reynolds YouTube
Remarkably, the good news doesn’t stop there. In addition to the spectacular opening weekend performance, the film is really good.
On Rotten Tomatoes, roughly 300 critics have given Deadpool & Wolverine a Fresh Rating of 79 percent.
Photo: Popsugar
I’d tracked it as high as 85 percent before the usual batch of anti-Marvel/Disney haters chimed in with their nonsense.
Even better, the film registered an Audience score of 97 percent, indicating that 32 out of every 33 viewers looooved it!
Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool with CGI eyes. Photo: JustJared.com
Similarly, Marvel’s latest release earned a Cinemascore of A, suggesting that the film will have an extended run in theaters.
Disney cleared the entire Marvel slate and hoped that Deadpool 3 could provide some equilibrium after a chaotic few years.
Source: Variety
Sure enough, that’s precisely what has happened. As I type this, Inside Out 2’s box office is hovering around $1.5 billion.
I have every reason to believe that Deadpool & Wolverine will surpass that total.
(Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
This seems like a good time to mention that the combined global box office of Deadpool and Deadpool 2 was around $1.6 billion.
You see where I’m going with this. And I’ve somehow just written this much without mentioning a single spoiler about the film.
(Photo by Noam Galai/WireImage)
Once you’ve watched it, you’ll understand what a challenge that is!
Marvel Miscellany
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images for ReedPOP
We still have some Marvel notes from San Diego Comic-Con, just not the ones from the Hall H panel yet.
Still, some of them are quite fun. For starters, every cameo star in Deadpool & Wolverine appeared at the film’s panel.
Source: Jesse Grant/ Getty Images
I obviously cannot tell you who all was there, but it was…a LOT of people, and they all seemed to be having fun.
The one person I can mention is X-23 herself, Dafne Keen, who appeared at the film’s red carpet premiere.
Source: by Chelsea Lauren/Variety/Shutterstock (10341985ce)
Keen had indicated she wanted to do that, which caused an internal problem at Marvel.
Her presence would have provided a film spoiler. So, Marvel improvised by creating this one week out trailer:
That was a shockingly emotional ad that did an excellent job of selling the last-minute hype for the film.
Source: Marvel
Way to turn a negative into a positive, Marvel!
Perhaps the best visual from Comic-Con belongs to the Fantastic Four team. Have you seen Galactus in drone form yet?
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Iron Man (2008). Photo: Marvel/Paramount/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock (5886260e)
PS: I added this after the whistle. It’s real!
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