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.
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?
