Disney Marvel Studios’ first R-rated release, Deadpool & Wolverine, is already heating up eight weeks before its debut, having already collected some $8M in first day ticket sales. $8M is pretty remarkable for an R-rated movie two months before release. The Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman-starring threequel directed by Shawn Levy opens July 26.
While there are no direct comps on Deadpool & Wolverine ticket sales in post-Covid history, its current cash bests the 24-hour advance ticket sales of Warner Bros/DC’s The Batman ($6.5M), Disney Marvel Studio’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ($6M) and Lionsgate’s R-rated John Wick: Chapter 4 ($1.4M). The Batman and GOTG3 opened to respective 3-day weekends of $134M and $118.4M.
Deadpool & Wolverine has been forecasted as one of a handful of tentpoles that will truly work this summer and bring a mass audience back to theaters. The other titles include Inside Out 2, Despicable Me 4 and Twisters.
AMC Boss Adam Aron was over the moon on Twitter about the news of Deadpool & Wolverine, writing, “Some 200,000 movie fans have bought their AMC tickets already. This is more Day 1 ticket sales at AMC than for any other R-rated movie ever.”
Combined, the two previous Deadpool movies have grossed $1.56 billion at the global box office. This portion of the Marvel franchise was previously handled by 20th Century Fox, pre Disney merger.
The first Deadpool in February 2016 opened to $132.4M stateside, while the second movie opened to $125.5M in early May 2018.