MONDAY UPDATE: Deadpool & Wolverine came in higher than expected over Disney’s Sunday morning estimates, reporting a total domestic debut of $211M as of Monday. Internationally, Disney is revising its figures to reflect a $233.1M overseas opening weekend from 52 material markets. That gives Deadpool & Wolverine a global debut of $444.1M
1. Deadpool & Wolverine
Marvel Studios | NEW
$205M Domestic Opening Weekend
$438.3M Global Cume
Marvel Studios has bounced back in a big way with the Ryan Reynolds/Hugh Jackman team-up film Deadpool & Wolverine, which took in an estimated $205M on 4,210 screens to become the highest-grossing R-rated opening of all-time domestically as well as globally where it took in $438.3M. The per-screen average was an enormous $48,694, the #8 PSA of all time above 2012’s The Avengers ($47,698). Domestically, it knocked off Marvel’s Black Panther for the #8 highest opening weekend ever. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has now surpassed the $30 billion mark globally. This is the biggest global opening of 2024 as well as since 2022’s Avatar: The Way of Water ($439M), and a huge overall win for Disney, who has released the #1 movie of May (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes), June (Inside Out 2), and July (Deadpool & Wolverine). A robust 18% of the gross came from Premium Large Format theaters, including IMAX, 3D, or specialty formats (4DX, D-Box, ScreenX). It earned $36.5M across the global IMAX network alone, $19.1M of that on domestic IMAX.
Spiritually much more of a Deadpool film than a traditional X-Men/Wolverine movie, the wacky new entry earned mixed-positive reviews with 80% on Rotten Tomatoes, though the audience rating is 97% and CinemaScore is an “A.” ComScore’s PostTrak has general audiences giving the film 5 out of 5 stars, 94% total positive/70% reported “excellent.” The audience skewed male at 64% to 36% female. Here’s the full age breakdown:
- 13-17 – 6%
- 18-24 – 31%
- 25-34 – 29%
- 35-44 – 20%
- 45-54 – 10%
- 55+ – 5%
Here’s how demographics looked:
- Caucasian (36%)
- Hispanic (31%)
- African American (17%)
- Asian (17%)
The weekend kicked off in spectacular fashion with $38.5M in domestic previews on Thursday, the biggest preview of 2024. It beat Inside Out 2‘s $13M and previous Deadpool movies (2016’s Deadpool made $12.7M, while Deadpool 2 had $18.6M… the R-rated preview record until now). On the all-time preview chart, it ranks at #8 behind Avengers: Infinity War ($39M) and above Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ($36M). That 2022 Doctor Strange sequel was the most recent high-earning opening weekend for an MCU movie before D&W with $187,420,998 million, with Avengers: Endgame the all-time champ at $357,115,007 million.
Here’s how the 3-Day looked:
Friday – $96,000,000
Saturday – $61,500,000
Sunday – $47,500,000
The more than 50% drop-off from Friday to Sunday could indicate that fans were coming out in force on Day 1 to avoid online spoilers, which were plentiful, especially with Marvel trotting out all the big surprise cameos onstage at Comic-Con.
Here’s how this opening performance compares to previous Deadpool or Wolverine solo movies:
- Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) – $205M opening
- Deadpool (2016) – $132.4M opening/$363M domestic
- Deadpool 2 (2018) – $125.5M opening/$324.5M domestic
- Logan (2017) – $88.4M opening/$226.2M domestic
- X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) – $85M opening/$179.8M domestic
- The Wolverine (2013) – $53.1M opening/$132.5M domestic
Hugh Jackman must be especially glad he re-teamed with Ryan Reynolds for this film since the opening out-performed the entire run of X-Men Origins: Wolverine and The Wolverine, likely surpassing Logan by Monday or Tuesday. Internationally, the film took in $233.3M in 52 material territories for a global total of $438.3M, making Deadpool & Wolverine the 7th highest-grossing X-Men movie ever at the WW box office, ahead of the first two Wolverine solo efforts and just behind 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand ($459.2M). Top 5 overseas markets were China ($24M), UK ($22.1M), Mexico ($18.7M), Australia ($13M), and Germany ($10M).
Speaking on behalf of exhibition, NATO president & CEO remarked on the occasion of the first $200M+ opening weekend for an R-rated movie. “We are thrilled to see Deadpool & Wolverine bringing people to theatres for the biggest opening weekend ever for an R-rated movie. This is the kind of movie you want to experience on the big screen, and the historic level of enthusiasm this weekend reminds us yet again that audiences know there is no experience like theatrical. We also know that when people go to the movies, they want to come back—so we are excited to capitalize on this weekend’s energy with a robust theatrical slate in months to come.”
Between a massive Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con and Deadpool & Wolverine‘s opening, this has been Marvel Studios’ weekend, hands down. The Deadpool & Wolverine craze has also spilled over to cinema concessions stand, with many top circuits across the country offering licensed collectibles and merchandise for sale.
The positive momentum is expected to carry onto next weekend, despite competition from Warner Bros.’ suspense thriller Trap and Sony’s kids movie Harold and the Purple Crayon. At this point even a second weekend topple at/over 60% would still be a huge windfall, and with this kind of word-of-mouth we certainly don’t expect an Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania (-70%) or The Marvels (-78%) type sophomore drop.
2. Twisters
Universal | Week 2
$35.3M Domestic Weekend
$154.93M Domestic Cume | $221.3M Global Cume
In its second weekend Twisters managed to bunker down and pull in an estimated $35.3M at the domestic box office on 4,170 screens (+19) to take the #2 spot. That’s a -57% drop and $8,465 PSA, meaning Deadpool & Wolverine took a bigger bite out of the audience than Universal was probably hoping. Making things harder was the fact that the Marvel movie usurped a large number of PLF screens (including 4DX) where a film like Twisters is ideally suited.
Here’s how the 3-Day looked:
- Friday – $10.3M
- Saturday – $13.89M
- Sunday – $11.11M
The domestic total currently stands at $154.93M, around 64.1% of the 1996 Twister‘s $241.6M take. Overseas (where Warner Bros. is distributing), the sequel brought in $11.1m on 10,034 screens in 76 international markets, with a cume of $66.3M and a global cume of $221.3M. There are still two more big territories, with the Japan launch this week on August 1 and South Korea on August 14.
Other Notable Performances
Oz Perkins’ horror thriller Longlegs has now officially conquered the record set by Best Picture winner Parasite ($53,369,749 million) as boutique studio Neon’s highest-grossing domestic movie ever. Earning an additional $6.7M in its third frame at #5, its domestic total now is $58,618,928 million. However, with only $7.1M reported from Longlegs‘ overseas performance, it shows few prospects of beating Parasite‘s global gross of $262.1M. It is currently the highest-grossing Nicolas Cage-led film since 2012’s Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance ($51.7M).
Bleecker Street’s female-driven comedy The Fabulous Four debuted to $1,010,614 million on 1,045 screens for a $967 PSA to place at #8. A clear attempt to capitalize on the trend of older actress team-up movies ala the Book Club franchise or 80 for Brady, The Fabulous Four‘s lineup of Susan Sarandon, Bette Midler, Megan Mullally, and Sheryl Lee Ralph clearly wasn’t enough to attract the over-50 crowd, and a Rotten Tomatoes critical of 23% and audience score of 53% was the nail in the coffin.
Sony’s Bad Boys: Ride or Die crossed the $200M overseas mark this weekend and officially became Saudi Arabia’s highest-grossing film of all time. Saudi cinemas lead all international territories for the title, representing $23M of the film’s global gross. Bad Boys: Ride or Die has earned a total of $395.2M worldwide.
Sunday’s Studio Weekend Estimates | Weekend 30 – 2024
Total Domestic Estimates: $277,557,551M | (+23.1% vs 2023)
| Title | Weekend Estimate | % Change | Locations | Location Change | PSA | Domestic Total | Week | Distributor |
| Deadpool & Wolverine | $205,000,000 | 4,210 | $48,694 | $205,000,000 | 1 | Walt Disney | ||
| Twisters | $35,300,000 | -57% | 4,170 | 19 | $8,465 | $154,931,000 | 2 | Universal |
| Despicable Me 4 | $14,200,000 | -42% | 3,610 | -502 | $3,934 | $290,972,000 | 4 | Universal |
| Inside Out 2 | $8,300,000 | -35% | 3,150 | -475 | $2,635 | $613,406,731 | 7 | Walt Disney |
| Longlegs | $6,765,000 | -43% | 2,730 | -120 | $2,478 | $58,618,928 | 3 | Neon |
| A Quiet Place: Day One | $3,025,000 | -52% | 1,932 | -981 | $1,566 | $134,229,000 | 5 | Paramount Pi… |
| Bad Boys: Ride or Die | $1,275,000 | -52% | 1,006 | -710 | $1,267 | $191,743,000 | 8 | Sony Pictures |
| The Fabulous Four | $1,010,614 | 1,045 | $967 | $1,010,614 | 1 | Bleecker Street | ||
| Fly Me to the Moon | $750,000 | -77% | 1,314 | -2,042 | $571 | $19,110,000 | 3 | Sony Pictures |
| MaXXXine | $231,820 | -72% | 1,038 | n/c | $223 | $14,676,260 | 4 | A24 |
| Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes | $206,000 | 108% | 40 | -110 | $5,150 | $170,938,937 | 12 | 20th Century… |
| The Bikeriders | $200,000 | -72% | 81 | -227 | $2,469 | $21,668,000 | 6 | Focus Features |
| Dìdi (弟弟) | $200,000 | 5 | $40,000 | $200,000 | 1 | Focus Features | ||
| Widow Clicquot | $113,000 | -39% | 83 | -19 | $1,361 | $396,081 | 2 | Vertical Ent… |
| Oddity | $100,022 | -82% | 229 | -561 | $437 | $1,044,675 | 2 | IFC Films |
| Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot | $65,217 | -85% | 148 | -732 | $441 | $11,480,388 | 4 | Angel Studios |
| Sing Sing | $46,443 | -28% | 4 | n/c | $11,611 | $334,991 | 3 | A24 |
| Kinds of Kindness | $46,000 | -46% | 75 | -75 | $613 | $5,028,465 | 6 | Searchlight … |
| Touch | $43,000 | -84% | 84 | -242 | $512 | $1,072,000 | 3 | Focus Features |
| Janet Planet | $22,345 | -27% | 292 | 260 | $77 | $721,866 | 6 | A24 |
| Robot Dreams | $12,500 | -39% | 38 | -40 | $329 | $838,235 | 9 | Neon |
| Make Me Famous | $3,142 | 437% | 1 | n/c | $3,142 | $54,740 | 58 | Red Splat Pr… |
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