When you think of the holiday season, you don't think of Deadpool. And when you think of the Merc with a Mouth, you don't think PG-13, but that's exactly where we find ourselves with this week's release of Once Upon a Deadpool. The slightly more kid-friendly, holiday-themed reimagining of this year's Deadpool 2 arrived in theaters yesterday, December 12, and it made over $900,000 on opening day.
Including Tuesday night preview showings, the 20th Century Fox film opened at 1,566 theaters on Wednesday and is estimated to have made $953,000 according to Deadline. That number was good enough for Wade Wilson to surpass every other film at the Wednesday box office, with the exception of another holiday movie, Illumination's The Grinch, which added another $968,000 to its domestic haul of over $226 million.
Once Upon a Deadpool will be celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas and remain in theaters until Christmas Eve. Deadpool 2 already made $318.5 million domestically and $734.2 million worldwide, and Once Upon a Deadpool's box office will just add to Fox's bottom line, making for a nice little stocking stuffer for the studio.
Of course, in keeping with the spirit of the season, not every cent Once Upon a Deadpool makes will be going to the soon-to-be-Disney-owned studio. One dollar of every ticket sold for Once Upon a Deadpool during the December 12-24 time period will go to the charity Fuck Cancer, or as it is being temporarily called to keep with Once Upon a Deadpool's curse-averse rating, Fudge Cancer.
Once Upon a Deadpool's Wednesday performance shows that there was clearly was some interest in the film, even though the original version of it came out only seven months ago. Some of that interest is probably coming from younger audiences that eager to see what they couldn't under the restrictions of the R rating.
There is also curiosity from those who saw Deadpool 2 at just what exactly this movie is and whether or not Wade Wilson can work under a PG-13 restriction (make sure to read CinemaBlend's own Sarah El-Mahmoud's thoughts on the matter). It will be interesting to see if this little experiment portends more PG-13 cuts of R-rated movies.
While Once Upon a Deadpool is adding to the coffers of an already successful film, there are other titles opening this weekend also looking to make their mark at the box office. Universal has Mortal Engines, which starts preview screenings at 7 p.m. on Thursday night, and Clint Eastwood's latest directorial effort The Mule also opens this weekend.
Sony's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse opens Thursday night as well starting at 5 p.m., and is looking at a mid-$30 million opening. The animated feature riding a wave of enthusiasm and acclaim and should swing into first place this weekend.
The year is coming to a close but there are plenty of huge movies headed to theaters next year. Check them out in our 2019 release schedule.
