The MCU movie has become the biggest R-rated movie ever.
By Ian Sandwell Updated: 19 August 2024
Deadpool & Wolverine is now the biggest R-rated movie of all time, and it is still bringing in the box-office bucks.
In its third weekend of release, the movie officially hit the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office and ahead of its fourth weekend, it toppled Joker's $1.079 billion result to become the highest-grossing R-rated movie ever.
The achievement followed the MCU movie becoming the biggest Deadpool movie in its second weekend, as well as becoming the highest-grossing R-rated movie at the US box office, following its absolutely massive opening weekend.
It's perhaps not a surprise that the team-up of Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool and Hugh Jackman's Wolverine has been a big draw for fans. But the new MCU movie has even surpassed early estimates for just how big it'd be.
But just how much money has Deadpool & Wolverine made, and why has it been such a box-office success? Let's investigate.
After four weekends in play, here's how much Deadpool & Wolverine has made as of August 18, 2024:
US box office: $546,819,959
International box office: $597,933,034
Global box office: $1,144,752,993
Its huge opening weekend of $444 million marked the biggest-ever for an R-rated movie at both the US box office and worldwide. At the US box office, its $211 million debut was the sixth best opening ever and the biggest opening since Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Having recorded the biggest second weekend for an R-rated movie, Deadpool & Wolverine became the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time at the US box office, surpassing The Passion of the Christ's $370.7 million result.
Worldwide, Deadpool & Wolverine has now surpassed Joker as the biggest R-rated movie ever.
Unsurprising, it is now also the highest-grossing Deadpool movie, which also makes it the highest-grossing X-Men movie ever too.
In terms of the MCU, it is now the ninth highest-grossing outing to date ahead of Spider-Man: Far From Home. Next in its sights are Captain America: Civil War ($1.16 billion) and Iron Man 3 ($1.22 billion).
We'll start by stating the obvious. Beyond the star power involved in pairing Reynolds and Jackman, fans appear to be really liking what they see from the movie too.
Deadpool & Wolverine received an A CinemaScore in the US. It might not be the highest rating for an MCU movie – The Avengers, Black Panther, Endgame and No Way Home all received A+ ratings – but it still suggests that the movie could get repeat business.
It currently has the third-highest audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes behind only No Way Home and Shang-Chi (both 98%). Again, that suggests that despite a slightly more mixed critical reaction, Marvel fans are enjoying it and if they're enjoying it, it leads to them seeing it more than once or at least sharing praise with their friends.
Any mega box-office hit needs repeat business to hit $1 billion and beyond, and Deadpool & Wolverine seems well-placed to have a lengthy run.
Deadpool & Wolverine was likely always set to have a major opening weekend after its global press tour saw Reynolds and Jackman in publicity overdrive. But it's what Marvel did next that could lead to its ongoing success.
Following the surprise Comic-Con screening for the movie on the day of its opening previews in the US, the movie's previously-secret guest stars were brought out on stage to a rapturous Hall H reaction.
Of course, that didn't stay just for the Comic-Con crowd and soon made the rounds on social media. Most of those stars also shared their own posts and held interviews, which is unprecedented for a Marvel movie.
Typically, spoilers are kept under lock-and-key – at least officially – for a week or so. For instance, the first official comment on Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire's No Way Home return wasn't released until seven days after its release.
The Comic-Con appearance led to wider coverage of the major stars that were joining Reynolds and Jackman. Rather than spoiling it, it likely led to more people wanting to watch the movie for those stars – even if they weren't a Deadpool or Wolverine fan – especially as they're from an older Marvel era.
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Deadpool & Wolverine also ended up with an ideal release date, following the strikes delaying production and leading to it shifting back from May 2024 to July 2024.
Rather than having pressure to kickstart the summer (like The Fall Guy had), the movie arrived as the blockbuster to see this summer. Twisters had primed audiences for more big-screen spectacle, and Deadpool & Wolverine provides just that.
As the only MCU movie released this year, there's also no chance that Marvel fans are fatigued. The only other MCU outing this year was Echo in January and compare that to 2023 - we had two movies and one TV show by July with another movie and two TV shows to come.
Disney has smartly dialled back on the Marvel 'content' (for want of a better word), building up the hype for Deadpool & Wolverine in the process as the sole big-screen outing for MCU fans this year.
Whether it can 'save' the MCU remains to be seen as it's largely separate to the wider issues where movies and TV shows have set up too many characters with little direction. By contrast, Deadpool & Wolverine is a very contained story with no set-up for the future.
With the Multiverse Saga pivoting to Doctor Doom and a certain Robert Downey Jr, the pressure is arguably more on the trio of 2025 movies to deliver and show the MCU is still the franchise to beat.
But for now, Deadpool & Wolverine has surely confirmed that we'll be seeing the titular duo again in the future.
Deadpool & Wolverine is out now in cinemas.
