The hype for Deadpool & Wolverine isn’t slowing down at all about a month and a half out from its July 26 theatrical release date. With relatively few blockbusters hitting the big screen this summer, forecasters are projecting that the multiversal/buddy comedy/antihero superhero flick will single-handedly save the domestic box office.
Per a new report by Deadline, citing The Quorum as the source of information, “conservative” estimates have Deadpool & Wolverine achieving as much as $239 million domestically on its opening weekend.
EXCLUSIVE: Disney/Marvel Studios‘ Deadpool & Wolverine hit six week tracking this morning and is projected at $200M-$239M, which would be groundbreaking for an R-rated movie
MORE: https://t.co/sN4Y6urQ5t pic.twitter.com/ZZQkPzk5Es
— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) June 14, 2024
Record-setting viewing numbers have rolled in from the movie’s Super Bowl teaser and eventual follow-up trailer. Looks like that’s going to be the general trend when it comes time for everyone to park their rears in the cinema to see this spectacle unfold.
Ryan Reynolds’ debut standalone Deadpool flick from 2016 has the current high water mark for R-rated domestic box office opening at $132.4 million. This threequel has a somewhat realistic chance to almost double that. Aiding the cause is Hugh Jackman’s return as Wolverine, which was believed to be impossible based on how much of a high note he seemingly went out on in James Mangold’s Oscar-nominated Logan from 2017.
Since we’re in the midst of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Multiverse Saga, there’s no telling how they’ll handle Wolverine in this one. Jackman is either playing a variant of the character we haven’t quite seen before, or he’s somehow canonically tied to the Fox franchise continuity. I’m sure there are leaks all over the Internet. Avoid those if you can, because that’s one of the better mysteries among very many this close to its release.
Given Wade Wilson’s penchant for fourth-wall breaking, meta humor, and prior jokes about how confusing the X-Men timelines are — not to mention his time-traveling shenanigans at the end of Deadpool 2 — this figures to be the movie that could save the MCU from its current downward trend. Don’t yell at me, I’m paraphrasing Kevin Feige.
As if the bullish box office forecast doesn’t bode well enough, director Shawn Levy is reportedly (read: is) being courted for the next massive team-up Avengers film.
#Marvel is eyeing Shawn Levy to direct the next #Avengers film #THRNews pic.twitter.com/EZdljSbMLd
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) June 5, 2024
Yeah, Marvel and Feige offered him the gig once in mid-March, which Levy turned down due to a crowded schedule that features an eventual Star Wars movie (maybe possibly) and the last season of Stranger Things (most definitely). The studio circled back to him months later to bring him the latest script.
How good must Deadpool & Wolverine be?
