‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Projected for New R-Rated Box Office Record With $160 Million Start

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The first round of box office projections has arrived for Marvel Studios’ “Deadpool & Wolverine,” and they predict the highest-ever opening weekend for an R-rated film at $160 million-plus.

That would also mean that the “Deadpool” franchise would have all of the Top 3 R-rated openings as the original 2016 entry currently holds the record with $132.4 million, closely followed by its 2018 sequel “Deadpool 2” at $125.5 million.

Anything above $162 million would pass the opening weekend of “Barbie” and would be the highest opening weekend for any film since the $181.3 million start of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” in November 2022.

Presales for “Deadpool & Wolverine” have been extremely high since they began in late May, and exhibitor sources say there’s potential for upside. With longtime comic book movie fans excited to see Ryan Reynolds’ character join the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Hugh Jackman play Wolverine again in a comic-accurate costume, the buzz surrounding the film is quite similar to “Spider-Man: No Way Home” in December 2021.

Of course, that film opened to a jaw-dropping $260 million, and “Deadpool & Wolverine” isn’t projected to get anywhere near that because this is still an R-rated movie that proudly displays its gory violence and raunchy jokes on its sleeve.

But “No Way Home,” along with many of the biggest post-shutdown hits, saw significant walk-up ticket sales that trackers could not predict. So, while trackers are keeping it safe and predicting a still-spectacular “Barbie”-level opening for this violent Marvel film, an opening above $200 million can’t be totally left off the table.

“Deadpool & Wolverine” hits theaters July 26.

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