As the Dust Settles From Opening Weekend, DEADPOOL Performs Bigger Than All X-MEN Movies and is Fox's Biggest Opener Ever

In three days plus Thursday night shows DEADPOOL has brought in an estimated $135 million in the U.S. and $125 million overseas for a combined total of approximately $260 million worldwide (on a small-for-the-genre $58 million production budget). DEADPOOL has done the unthinkable by having a bigger opening weekend haul than any X-Men movie Fox has released. X-MEN: THE LAST STAND was on top with a $102 million domestic opening.

Take that Wolverine!

In fact, DEADPOOL is the biggest opening in Fox's history beating out STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH which brought in $108 million in its domestic opening weekend.

For a movie that Fox just didn't seem interested in making for over a half decade, after a script was written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, DEADPOOL has won over audiences even though Fox was hesitant because of its highly mature content. Fox executives should feel really, really good right about now after their FANTASTIC FOUR reboot fell flat last summer, but this should also make them question themselves why they hadn't made this movie sooner.

Regardless, kudos to lead actor and producer Ryan Reynolds, director Tim Miller, Reese and Wernick for showing extreme patience and the commitment to making this movie the way it needed to be made as a hard R film. Also, kudos to whoever leaked the test footage the day after San Diego Comic-Con ended in summer 2014.

Fox didn't think moviegoers wanted to see a hard R comic book movie in a time where the biggest blockbuster films are PG-13, and boy were they wrong. With a conservative projection of a domestic opening in the $55-$65 million range, Fox wasn't sure how big of a hit they had on their hands. During the weekend, there were many social media posts seen about how theater screenings were sold out for DEADPOOL and those people said they would go next weekend. So look for solid numbers in its second weekend, too.

Bottom line, Fox should feel very confident right about now — they are already moving forward with DEADPOOL 2 — as DEADPOOL is the new standard for R-rated super hero movies. Fox should also be looking at moving forward with re-writing their X-FORCE script especially since Ryan Reynolds wants to make an X-FORCE movie his priority (see post link below) along with DEADPOOL sequels.

There's a new player in the super hero movie game and he just changed the game by flipping it upside down while looking directly at the camera. DEADPOOL took the genre to the next level in a similar way as how Christopher Nolan helped define the genre as it has become today with his Dark Knight Trilogy and when IRON MAN broke through and changed the way studios all now want their own multiple franchise connected movie universe. DEADPOOL has become the next advance for the genre and look for Fox to bring a lot more Deadpool into its mutant universe in the coming years.

It may only be February, but 2016 has quickly turned into The Year of Deadpool.


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DEADPOOL: Ryan Reynolds is Hopeful For a Sequel and an Appearance in a Possible X-FORCE Movie