No one saw this coming. They knew Deadpool would prove itself as a success, but absolutely no one saw it becoming such a behemoth. The film hit theaters on Friday, and has absolutely decimated the competition at the box office. Beyond merely performing better than expected, the anti-hero origin/love/revenge tale has gone on to shatter some fairly longstanding box office records.
According to reports from Box Office Mojo, Deadpool has raked in over $135 million at the box office for its opening weekend, and is projected to have made $160 million by the end of the holiday weekend. It’s become one of the highest grossing R-rated movies of all times, and one of the most successful non-summer comic book releases ever. Between international and domestic box offices, the film currently looks to debut to $260 million when all is said and done; that’s over $200 more than the film’s shoestring budget
Honestly, we keep reporting on how well it’s doing, but then those reports become obsolete due to the fact that it simply isn’t losing any of the predicted momentum; it’s a box office juggernaut that simply cannot be stopped – much like The Merc with the Mouth himself. Collider did us the service of compiling a list of just how many records Deadpool has utterly destroyed so far:
- Largest February Opening Weekend: $85.1 million; Fifty Shades of Grey
- Largest 4-Day President’s Day Weekend: $93 million; Fifty Shades of Grey
- Largest R-Rated Opening Weekend: $91.7 million; The Matrix Reloaded
- Largest R-Rated Comic Adaptation Opening: $70.8 million; 300
- Largest Winter Opening Weekend: $89.2 million; American Sniper
- Largest Opening for 20th Century Fox: $108.4 million; Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
Bear in mind, this is just Deadpool’s first weekend. There’s no telling what other records the film could break during its time in theaters. With Deadpool 2 on the way, FOX seems intent not only to capitalize on the success of the original film, but also to up the ante. Not content with resting on their laurels, FOX has now begun to look into bringing iconic X-Man Cable into the upcoming sequel – a moment fans of the franchise have long hoped for.
Much of the credit for the financial success of Deadpool is owed to its pitch perfect marketing campaign. The film obviously appeals to die hard comic book fans, but between the great trailers, promo videos, and hilarious interviews with Ryan Reynolds, even mainstream audiences have managed to get psyched up for Wade Wilson’s violently hilarious tale.
So Deadpool has become a friggin freight train that shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. We will keep you posted is it continues to hack, slash, and shoot its way through the box office. If you haven’t seen the film yet then do yourself a serious favor and check it out – just leave the kids at home.
