Avengers: Infinity War gets its first major competition in the form of Deadpool 2, Fox's sequel to their R-rated mega-hit. Anticipation for the sequel has been high, thanks to the record-breaking success of the first movie and what has to be the best marketing campaign in recent memory. Deadpool 2 was already tracking to outperform its predecessor and open to $150 million domestically, and it looks like it's on pace to do just that. The sequel already broke records for Thursday night previews, and now Deadpool 2 has had the best opening day in history for an R-rated film.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Deadpool 2 earned a huge $53.3 million on Friday, making it the highest grossing opening day ever for an R-rated film. This number includes the Thursday night tally of $18.6 million. (It's industry standard to combine Thursday into Friday's total). The previous champion was last year's R-rated smash-hit, IT, which opened to $50 million.
It is very possible right now that Deadpool 2 could possess the best opening weekend for an R-rated movie. All it has to do is beat, well, itself. Deadpool is the current record holder with $132.4 million. As stated before, Deadpool 2 is tracking for a $150 million opening domestically. Deadpool 2 is currently outpacing the opening day of Deadpool, which scored $47.4 million on its Friday.
In terms of the worldwide box office, Deadpool 2 has opened in almost all the major markets with the extremely notable exception of China. The sequel is tracking for a $150 million-plus foreign debut, but China will likely make a huge contribution when it opens in that market.
It shouldn't be too hard for Deadpool 2 to open at No. 1, defeating the three-week rule of Avengers: Infinity War. The Marvel Studios blockbuster is looking at a $28 million-$30 million weekend and is on its way to $1.8 billion worldwide. Infinity War grossed $7.2 million on Friday. As far as the other competition is concerned, there isn't much of it. The only other two openings are the lowkey Book Club and Show Dogs, which grossed $4.7 million and $5 million-$6 million, respectively. Book Club is performing above expectations while Show Dogs is underperforming.
I think there was little doubt that Deadpool 2 would take home the top prize this weekend, but the sequel doesn't exactly have much room to breath. Solo: A Star Wars Story opens next weekend and its tracking for a pretty good $170 million debut. We'll see what kind of legs Deadpool has as the summer season gets even more crowded.
If you feel like contributing to Deadpool 2's box office, the movie is currently in theaters right now. For everything else arriving in theaters, here's our 2018 movie release guide.
