Marvel Studios and Disney‘s Deadpool & Wolverine has officially become the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time at the global box office, not adjusted for inflation.
Directed by Shawn Levy and featuring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, the film surpassed the previous record held by Joker on Thursday. Reynolds announced the achievement on social media.
As of Thursday, Deadpool & Wolverine has grossed $1.086 billion worldwide, including $516.8 million in the domestic market and $568.8 million internationally. Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix, previously held the record with $1.079 billion in 2019, making these the only two R-rated films to exceed $1 billion in earnings.
Following Deadpool & Wolverine on the list of top R-rated films is Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, which earned $974.5 million, along with Reynolds’ earlier Deadpool films, The Matrix Reloaded, and The Passion of the Christ. Before this latest installment, Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ had held the record for the highest-grossing R-rated film domestically for two decades, with over $378 million in ticket sales.
This third installment in the Deadpool series, which began at 20th Century Fox, marks a significant victory for Reynolds, the franchise’s creative force, as well as for Marvel Studios and the superhero genre as a whole. It is the first superhero film to cross the $1 billion mark since Sony and Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home two and a half years ago, and the first Marvel/Disney MCU film to achieve this since Avengers: Endgame in 2019.
Deadpool & Wolverine joined the billion-dollar club last weekend, tying with The Avengers as the fourth-fastest MCU title to reach this milestone in just 19 days. The record for the fastest remains with Avengers: Endgame at five days, followed by Avengers: Infinity War at 11 days and Spider-Man: No Way Home at 12 days.
The film is the 55th to surpass the $1 billion threshold, the 31st title from Disney (including three from 20th Century Fox), and the 11th from the MCU, which also includes two Sony Spider-Man films, Homecoming and No Way Home. It is the second film this year to join the billion-dollar club, following Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2, which has become the highest-grossing animated film of all time with nearly $1.6 billion in global ticket sales. Disney remains the only studio to release back-to-back billion-dollar films in a single year.
Since its debut over the July 26-28 weekend, Deadpool & Wolverine has set numerous records, quickly surpassing the lifetime earnings of the first two Deadpool films in both domestic and global markets after just two weekends. The first Deadpool film earned $363.1 million domestically and $782.6 million globally, while the second film grossed $318.5 million domestically and $734.5 million worldwide.
As for its future earnings, projections suggest that the film could reach between $1.2 billion and $1.3 billion, supporting Reynolds’ belief that they have created the first R-rated film appealing to all demographics.
Now imagine if Hugh had done full frontal. With the cowl on of course. #DeadpoolAndWolverine ❤️💛 pic.twitter.com/ai6tSfVGTM
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) August 16, 2024
