Weekend Box Office: Deadpool & Wolverine Is Officially the Highest-Grossing R-Rated Film of All Time 

Deadpool & Wolverine continued its march into box office history this weekend, leading the pack into what appears to be a rather lackluster final month of the summer season. More major releases than not are forgoing nationwide screenings for critics, including the pair of newbies this weekend. While some studios may be testing the waters of a new strategy, the stigma of withholding advance looks is not going to go away anytime soon, if ever. D&W certainly did not need fawning reviews in advance, but they never hurt, and even if critics were more vicious, the risk on the bottom line was minimal. Studios with less confidence in their mid-range releases pulling screenings is not a bold move, especially if the extra bodies you get into theaters opening weekend tell other bodies not to see it the next.

King of the Crop: Deadpool & Wolverine Is Officially the Highest-Grossing R-Rated Film of All Time Domestically

We’ll get back to that in a moment, but we pause to bring you the not-so-breaking news that Deadpool & Wolverine dominated again in its second weekend. That is to say, it was dominant compared to the rest of the options in theaters, though maybe just a tad less so when it comes to its $200 million-opening-weekend summer brethren, since it’s hard to find fault with the eighth-highest second weekend in history. Overall, the film is doing incredibly well; with $395+ million on the domestic side and $824+ million globally, the film is a bona fide success and now the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all-time domestically. The first Deadpool grossed $783 million globally, and Deadpool 2 did $786 million. Shortly, Deadpool & Wolverine will become the 52nd film to reach a billion dollars and the 11th Marvel property to do so. It has the seventh-highest 10-day total in history, higher than Marvel’s The Avengers and the last two Star Wars films. But is the film still showing a quicker fatigue than its predecessors?

Inside Out 2, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Barbie, Black Panther, Jurassic World, and Marvel’s The Avengers all had smaller percentage drops than Deadpool & Wolverine’s 54% this weekend. Amongst the 12 other films to start with over $350 million in their first 10 days (a list that includes this summer’s Inside Out 2), five of them fell below $100 million in their second weekend. Three of them were films released during the Christmas season. Barbie bested all of them with a summer weekend of $93 million. With $97 million this weekend, D&W did beat Barbie and Disney’s 2019 version of The Lion King, which had a $76.6 million second frame. D&W owns a $44 million lead on both of those films and is holding pace for $640+ million on the domestic side. It would be Disney/Marvel’s sixth film on the $600 million list, and a less challenging August release schedule will help it get there. The bigger question for the MCU is whether this is a momentary plug of the leak or the beginning of a new phase of success.

[Editor’s Note: Deadpool & Wolverine is currently still behind Joker and Oppenheimer as the third-highest grossing R-rated film worldwide, but it is far ahead of them domestically.]

The Top 10 and Beyond: Twisters Holds on, Trap Fails to Impress

Remaining in second place in its third weekend is Lee Isaac Chung’s Twisters with $22.6 million. Last week we were comparing the film’s numbers to that of the first Transformers film, and here it bested its third weekend of $20.5 million. At $195.5 million, Twisters is still $46+ million behind its pace, but that brings a little more clarity in that it is now headed north of $250 million at the domestic box office. That’s higher (minus inflation) than the original 1996 film, but it still faces an uphill battle due to far lower international sales. Now in its fourth weekend outside North America, it is still only at $85 million. The $155 million production is going to need to stretch that total to at least $200 million if it has a shot of getting into profit. Since 2000, only four films have ever grossed $250 million domestically and not reached $200 million abroad: American Sniper, 2009’s Star Trek, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and The Blind Side.

We now come to M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap, the first of his films to not be fully screened for critics. (My own experience of The Village back in 2004 involved late Thursday screenings some were invited to.) Apart from his 1999-2002 trio of The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs, Shyamalan’s films have not exactly exploded with critical enthusiasm. The latter two are at 70% and 75% on the Tomatometer, respectively, and he has only had three films since (The Visit, Split, Knock at the Cabin) to rate Fresh with critics. Trap, with its late-arriving reviews, is holding right now at 49%; note that it is higher than The Watchers, this summer’s film directed by his daughter, Ishana, which was screened for critics and sits at 32% on the Tomatometer. Why was dad’s film so protected while hers was thrown to those pesky reviewers?

Warner Bros. is more interested in the dollar figure here, and it is a rather meh one with $15.6 million for third place. That is higher than last year’s February release of Knock at the Cabin ($14.1 million), which topped out at $35 million, and the pandemic-era release of Old ($16.8 million opening / $48.2 million finish). Pre-pandemic it would rank as the lowest start since Lady in the Water. Overall, it’s the second-lowest opening of Night’s career. But one thing you can’t say about any of his films since the debacles of The Last Airbender and After Earth is that none of them have been a success, at least financially. In fact, from The Visit on up, his films have thrived thanks to small budgets. The rumored $30 million that Trap costs is the most expensive of the post-After Earth period. That is not a huge hurdle to overcome for a profit, but if it trails off in the 59-62% range of Old and Knock next week, it could be in trouble. The latter grossed less than $20 million internationally.

Fourth place belongs to the second $300 million grosser of the year (it beat Deadpool & Wolverine by a couple days) and it is Despicable Me 4. Yes, it is now the third highest-grossing film of the year after an $11.2 million fifth weekend (a mere 23% decrease), but with nearly $314 million domestic and $752 million worldwide, it continues to hold as the second-most profitable film of the year. (D&W will get there eventually.) The numbers are better all around than Minions ($3.8 million higher than its fifth weekend and over $8 million ahead of its 33-day pace), and it is looking for a landing right now between $343-353 million in North America. It is the gift that keeps on giving for Universal and Illumination.

Inside Out 2 stayed in the top five in its eighth weekend, bringing its total to over $626 million with a $6.7 million weekend. Overall it is only about $4.5 million behind the pace of Jurassic World, which only made $3.9 million in weekend eight. Not only is Inside Out 2 just $9.5 million away from passing Barbie to enter the top 10 domestic of all time (of films in their initial runs), but the numbers suggest it will get over $650 million and ultimately pass Jurassic World for ninth place. It may be settling for 10th on the all-time worldwide list, where it sits now with $1.555 billion. It would need $1.663 billion to pass 2019’s The Lion King for ninth.

In sixth place is Harold and the Purple Crayon for Sony, which began filming in 2022 and has had its release delayed since its initial date back in January 2023. More than 18 months later, the film based on the beloved children’s book opened to $6 million in the month where family films generally go to die. This allows another chance for my favorite memo to studios: Kids go back to school this month, some in less than two weeks, and end-of-the-season family vacations are happening. Last year’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem broke through with $118 million, the first PG-rated film to be released this month to gross over $100 million since Freaky Friday in 2003. The G-rated The Princess Diaries did it in 2001, and its sequel got close in 2004. Planes, Spy Kids 2, and the Pete’s Dragon remake got over $75 million. Barnyard, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, and Dora and the Lost City of Gold were all over $60 million but considered theatrical failures and disappointments (as was Pete’s Dragon). In other words, it’s not the best month for family fare, and Purple Crayon is another that will not be in the win column, opening with just $9 million worldwide to date on its $40 million budget. Meanwhile, as part of the Studio Ghibli Fest across the country, Ponyo made it into the top 10 with $800,00. Whisper in the Heart and The Cat Returns will be seen in theaters Aug 25-28.

In seventh place, the horror story of the summer continues to impress. Back in 2020 just before the pandemic started, The Invisible Man had grossed $64.9 million in 21 days on just a $7 million budget. This year, Oz Perkins’ Longlegs has become the highest-grossing film in the history of Neon Studios with $66.9 million in 24 days on a $10 million budget. Currently doubling that total but not quite as profitable is Michael Sarnoski’s A Quiet Place: Day One. Hanging in there with $1.4 million, the horror film has grossed over $137 million domestic and $256 million worldwide. It is another success for the franchise despite being the most expensive ($67 million) and coming in a bit less than Part II’s $297 million and the original’s $340 million.

A24 finally expanded Sing Sing its four-theater run for the past three weeks into 18. That resulted in a still solid $172,000 for a per-theater average of $9,607 and $534,000. The window is closing slowly, but is indeed closing for a more successful wider launch. Focus expanded Sundance award-winner Didi into 47 theaters, where it grossed $440,000 for a PTA of $9,362. It has now grossed $728,000 and is going to triple its theater count next week. Meanwhile, Sony Classics opened another Sundance film, Kneecap, into a semi-wide release of 703 theaters, where it grossed just $492,000, a weary $700 PTA. Finally on the week when American prisoners in Russia were finally brought home, The Firing Squad broke into the top 10. It’s a faith-based true story about prisoners on death row in Indonesia starring Kevin Sorbo and Cuba Gooding Jr. The film grossed an estimated $1.6 million in 702 theaters for a PTA of $2,279.

On the Vine: Eli Roth Takes Us to the Borderlands

Next week, Eli Roth gets to join the land of the unscreened (at least for critics nationwide) as Lionsgate cautiously holds back reviews for his big screen adaptation of video game Borderlands with Cate Blanchett and Jumanji loans Kevin Hart and Jack Black. It was filmed back in 2021 with reshoots by Deadpool director Tim Miller in 2023. Potentially eclipsing Borderlands’ numbers is Sony’s release of the domestic abuse drama It Ends with Us, starring Blake Lively and based on Colleen Hoover’s 2016 bestseller. There are hopes it could be a late summer sleeper after being moved from its February and June release dates. Finally, there is also Cuckoo, Neon’s next horror release with Hunter Schafer from Euphoria. It is currently Fresh on the Tomatometer from its festival runs.

Full List of Box Office Results: August 2-4, 2024

1. 
   
   79%
   

   
   Deadpool & Wolverine
   (2024)
   – $97 million ($395.5 million total)
   
   

2. 
   
   75%
   

   
   Twisters
   (2024)
   – $22.6 million ($195.5 million total)
   
   

3. 
   

   
   
   54%
   

   
   Trap
   (2024)
   – $15.6 million ($15.6 million total)
   
   

4. 
   
   56%
   

   
   Despicable Me 4
   (2024)
   – $11.2 million ($313.9 million total)
   
   

5. 
   
   91%
   

   
   Inside Out 2
   (2024)
   – $6.7 million ($626.8 million total)
   
   

6. 
   

   
   
   26%
   

   
   Harold and the Purple Crayon
   (2024)
   – $6 million ($6 million total)
   
   

7. 
   
   86%
   

   
   Longlegs
   (2024)
   – $4.1 million ($66.9 million total)
   
   

8. 
   

   
   
   – –
   

   
   The Firing Squad
   (2024)
   – $1.6 million ($1.6 million total)
   
   

9. 
   
   86%
   

   
   A Quiet Place: Day One
   (2024)
   – $1.4 million ($137.4 million total)
   
   

10. 
    

    
    
    91%
    

    
    Ponyo
    (2008)
    – $800,000 ($800,000 million total)
    
    

Erik Childress can be heard each week evaluating box office on Business First AM with Angela Miles and his Movie Madness Podcast.

[box office figures via Box Office Mojo]

Thumbnail image by ©Marvel Studios

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