The summer movie season kicks off early this year withAvengers: Infinity Wararriving tonight for sneak previews, but another superhero sequel, 20th Century Fox’sDeadpool 2, is poised to open huge just a few weeks later. The first box office projections forDeadpool 2are in, putting the sequel at $150 million for its opening weekend. This current estimate puts it roughly $18 million ahead of the $132.4 million debut for 2016’sDeapdool, which shattered the 13-year record for thehighest opening for an R-rated filmof $91.7 million, held byThe Matrix Reloaded.
There are no estimates for its domestic total at this time, but the originalDeadpoolended up earning $363 million domestic, the second highest domestic tally for an R-rated movie ever, behind Mel Gibson’sThe Passion of the Christ($370.7 million) but it became the highest-grossing R-rated movie worldwide, breakingThe Matrix Reloaded’s record tally of $742.1 million. While many sequels fail to live up to expectations when the original movie was such a big hit, it seems possible thatDeadpool 2could break its own worldwide record, while also toppingThe Passion of the Christon theall-time R-rated domestic charts.
These figures also come after thelatest Avengers: Infinity War projectionsput it between $235 million and $255 million, which could break the all-time opening weekend record of $247.9 million set in December 2015 byStar Wars: The Force Awakens. What’s interesting is that Marvel had long staked out the May 4 weekend forInfinity War, but made the bold and surprising move to push it back a week to April 27. While no reason was given for the surprising shift, it did come shortly after 20th Century Fox pushedDeadpool 2from June 1 to May 18. It’s possible Marvel wanted to giveInfinity Wara three-week window to dominate at the box office before another superhero movie,Deadpool 2, hit theaters.
The originalDeadpoolwas made for $55 million, and theoriginal projections put it around $50 million, with some putting its opening weekend as high as $80 million. Those projections came before the early screenings happened, and while the buzz kept growing and growing, no one could have guessed the enormous opening weekend it had put up. Since then, it has paved the way for other R-rated hits such asLogan,Get Out,Splitand many more, as many start to wonder when Marvel and the DCEU will start putting out their own R-rated movies.
Ryan Reynolds returns as theMerc With the MouthinDeadpool 2, along with Morena Baccarin as his girlfriend Vanessa, T.J. Miller as his assassin colleague Weasel, Leslile Uggams as the Merc’s roommate Blind Al, Brianna Hildenbrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Karan Soni as his cab driver Dopinder. New casting additions include Julian Dennison as Russell, Josh Brolin as Cable, Zazie Beetz as Domino, Terry Crews as Bedlam, Lewis Tan as Shatterstar and Rob Delaney as Peter. You can head over toVarietyfor more onDeadpooll 2.
