‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Crossing $200M+ After Marvel’s Epic Comic-Con Panel; Unprecedented For R-Rated Film – Sunday AM Update

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SUNDAY AM EARLY: Refresh…Disney hasn’t reported their official numbers yet, but on the heels of a killer Saturday night in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con for Marvel, the Shawn Levy directed, produced and written Deadpool & Wolverine grossed between $61M-$62M on Saturday per sources for what is definitely a $200M+ opening weekend — just like we told you back in mid-June per Quorum. There’s bound to even be more cash. Some felt it wasn’t possible — but here we are.

SATURDAY AM UPDATE: Marvel is back, baby. Disney is reporting a $96M first day/previews for Deadpool & Wolverine, the sixth-highest opening ever that the U.S./Canada box office has seen. The revised 3-day estimate is $195M-$205M, easily the best openings ever for filmmaker Shawn Levy (besting Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian‘s $54M), and stars Ryan Reynolds (beating Deadpool‘s $132.4M) and Hugh Jackman (ahead of 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand‘s $102.7M).

At $195M-$205M, that will put D&W as either the eighth- or ninth-best opening at the domestic B.O. of all-time, behind Avengers: Endgame ($357.1M), Spider-Man: No Way Home ($260.1M), Avengers: Infinity War ($257.6M), Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($247.9M), Star Wars: The Last Jedi ($220M), Jurassic World ($208.8M), The Avengers ($207.4M), and Black Panther ($202M).

D&W falls in line among top opening domestic B.O. days behind Avengers: Endgame ($157.4M), Spider-Man: No Way Home ($121.9M), Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($119.1M), Avengers: Infinity War ($106.3M), and Star Wars: The Last Jedi ($104.6M).

Yesterday’s $55M below was for the sole Friday minus previews. With previews, that noon estimate was $93.5M, and evening showtimes catapulted D&W higher.

Levy, Reynolds, and Jackman have injected the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Sildenafil, as the brand is officially back with an awesome ‘A’ Cinemascore for the Deadpool franchise, which received its third straight “A” from the audience polling group.

Imax and PLFs are only repping a third of the gross so far, with another 17% from 3D. East and West are the best for D&W. Updated demos are 63% men, 37% women, 18-24s the largest demo at 31%, with 18-34 repping 60%. Diversity demos are 25% Caucasian, 32% Latino, 17% Black, and 10% Asian and 6% Native American. Adam Aron’s AMC Burbank is the top-grossing theater in the country at $240K.

Tonight is Marvel’s big panel at Hall H at Comic-Con San Diego. We wonder if the Deadpool & Wolverine gang will come back with an encore and more news…

The overall weekend is expected to gross $275M for all movies. Of course, D&W rep at least 71% of that, but what’s clear is the latter part of July is a damn great time to open a movie. That number for all films is the biggest we’ve seen in a while, though not as high as Barbenheimer’s weekend of $310M or Avengers: Endgame overall weekend (last of April 2019) which did $402M.

1.) Deadpool & Wolverine (Dis) 4,210 theaters Fri $96M, 3-day $195M-$205M/Wk 1

2.) Twisters (Uni/WB) 4,151 theaters, Fri $10.2M (-68%), 3-day $36M (-56%), Total $155.6M/Wk 2

3.) Despicable Me 4 (Uni) 3,610 (-502) theaters, Fri $4.36M (-41%) 3-day $14.5M (-41%), Total $291.2M/Wk 4

Disney

4.) Inside Out 2 (Dis) 3,150 (-475) theaters Fri $2.5M (-32%) 3-day $8.7M (-33%) Total $613.7M/Wk 7

Disney has even more to celebrate this weekend: The sequel officially becomes the highest-grossing Pixar movie ever at the domestic B.O., and the highest-grossing animated movie ever beating Incredibles 2‘s $608.5M.

5.) Longlegs (NEON) 2,732 (-118) theatres, Fri $2.2M (-43%), 3-day $6.9M (-43%), Total $58.7M/Wk 3

6..) A Quiet Place: Day One (Par) 1,932 (-981) theaters, Fri $935K 3-day $3.05M (-52%), Total $134.2M/Wk 5

7.) Bad Boys Ride or Die (Sony) 1,006 (-710) theaters, Fri $370K, 3-day $1.2M (-55%), Total $191.6M/Wk 8

8.) The Fabulous Four (BST) 1,045 theaters, Fri $365K 3-day $930K/Wk 1

9.) Fly Me to the Moon (App/Sony) 1,314 (-2042) locations, Fri $215K, 3-day $730K (-78%) Total $19M/Wk 3

10) Raayan (PMP) 133 theaters, Fri $140K, 3-day $440K, Total $500K, Wk 1

FRIDAY MIDDAY UPDATE: Deadpool & Wolverine is on its way to the biggest opening for an R-rated movie with a $55M Friday (not including previews) that will put it around $180M, per sources, with plenty of room to grow. Keeping a pulse on walk-up business, particularly during late-night is tricky. All along this summer, Latino and Hispanic audiences have walked-up in bulk, changing the commercial prospects of tentpoles’ fates for the better, and Thursday night as we told you they repped 35% of all D&W ticket buyers.

At $180M, D&W would be the 14th-best domestic opening of all time, pegging ahead of Captain America: Civil War ($179.1M, 2016) and just below Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ($181.3M, 2022). Wakanda Forever turned in a first day/previews of $84.2M, while Civil War did $75.5M.

The Box Office Company reports that 43% of the weekend’s showtimes for all movies are for D&W. It believes the pic has a shot at becoming the first R-rated movie to debut to $200M.

Exclaimed one rival studio executive about the success of this weekend for the pic, “This movie is going to defy any comp.”

UPDATED AFTER EXCLUSIVE: Marvel Studios‘ and Disney’s Deadpool & Wolverine is settling in at a robust $38.5M, still the best R-rated preview we’ve ever seen at the domestic box office, and the eighth-biggest preview of all-time.

That number out-pegs the preview night of Marvel’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in 2022 ($36M, 3-day of $187.4M), and it’s just under Avengers: Infinity War ($39M), which rallied all the way to $257.6M in 2018.

Out of the gate, on Screen Engine and ComScore’s PostTrak, the movie from director/producer/co-writer Shawn Levy has won over the masses with 5 stars/96% positive and an outstanding 85% definite recommend, which is what tentpoles are made of. Deadpool & Wolverine easily will become his highest opening yet, besting the $54M start of Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian in 2009.

Best grades for the movie came from women under 25 at 100%, but they were the smallest to show up at 10%. Men over 25 were in bulk at 45% (97% grade), followed by women over 25 at 24% (96%) and men under 25 at 21% (91% grade). Male-women turnout was 66%/34%, while under/over 25 was 31%/69%. The 18-34 crowd repped 60% of Thursday night’s draw, while over 25 was 69%. Diversity draw was strong Latino and Hispanic at 35% tied with Caucasian at 35%, 15% Black and 11% Asian.

Quorum tracking reports this morning that the final day-of verdict for Deadpool & Wolverine with “Unaided” reached 17%, the best since Barbie (32%) and Oppenheimer (20%). And with 70% interest, it is only the second film after Spider-Man: No Way Home to reach that level.” Quorum’s projection for the weekend: $190M-$219M. Still even if D&W comes in at $170M, that’s something to behold still — the best of the year and the best since Barbie a year ago.

In other box office news, Universal/Warner Bros/Amblin’s Twisters ends the week with $119.6M after a $6.5M Thursday, -35%. The Lee Isaac Chung-directed movie is expected to ease -55% against D&W.

EXCLUSIVE: Moments before Deadpool & Wolverine stars Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, filmmaker Shawn Levy and Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige take stage at Comic-Con’s Hall H, we can tell you first per myriad box office sources that the movie is headed to a record preview night for an R-rated pic. It is eyeing $35M at this minute but very well could wind up north of $40M+ by morning — which wouldn’t be shocking as bawdy movies play late into the night.

Anything north of $31M would make Deadpool & Wolverine one of the top nine preview nights ever. The badass duo already have trampled on the previous R-rated preview record, held by Deadpool 2 with $18.6M in 2018. That movie filed a $53M Friday, of which Thursday previews repped 35% for a 3-day of $125.5M. As we told you, the first Deadpool owns the R-rated 3-day record at $132.4M. That pic did $12.7M in previews, 27% of its first Friday’s $47.3M.

The weekend and the world is Deadpool & Wolverine‘s oyster with 81% certified fresh reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and a stellar 97% audience rating. Read Deadline’s review here, and watch the pic’s latest trailer below.

How high does Deadpool & Wolverine go? Everyone keeps handicapping that it won’t have the momentum of a PG-13 film. It’s uncharted territory, for sure. Note that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness posted $36M in previews in 2022, which got it to a $187.4M 3-day, while Avengers: Infinity War did $39M in previews and turned in a 3-day of $257.6M in 2018.

Word is that those fans getting a seat in Hall H will get to see the Levy-directed, -produced and -written Deadpool & Wolverine for free.

Be sure to watch Natalie Sitek’s coverage of the Deadpool & Wolverine panel tonight on @Deadline X.

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