Deadpool & Wolverine set to become bigger than Jesus (or at least his movie)

There's a running, and much-repeated, joke early in this summer's Deadpool & Wolverine, in which Ryan Reynolds' comic book motormouth declares himself "Marvel Jesus"—a joke that's now borne itself out pretty well, with the film serving as a savior for the Marvel Cinematic Universe after a year or two of pretty slump-y box office returns. Now, though, it sounds like Reynolds and co-star Hugh Jackman might be set to go the full Beatles, and become bigger than Jesus—in the sense that their movie is about to steal the title for "most successful R-rated movie in America" away from The Passion Of The Christ this weekend.This is per Variety, which reports that Deadpool & Wolverine is set to demolish basically everything else at the box office this weekend, including M. Night Shyamalan and Josh Hartnett's new thriller Trap. (Trap's doing fine, for what it is, on track to make about $15 million—a better opening than 2023's Knock At The Cabin—but nobody was harboring any delusions that Shyamalan's movie was going to take a chunk out of Reynolds' cash.) In fact, Deadpool & Wolverine probably beat the combined weekend totals of every other movie in American theaters this weekend on Friday alone, when it brought it $28.3 million. It's expected to hit at least $94 million over the weekend, which not only marks a very good 55 percent second weekend drop, but which will also sail it past The Passion's $370 million domestic take. It's already, just two weeks into release, the second biggest U.S. performer of 2024, and while it still has a long way to go to beat Inside Out 2—still likely to land at fifth place this week, two months after coming out—it's got momentum on its side.Meanwhile, the other movie opening this week, Zachary Levi's Harold And The Purple Crayon, maybe shouldn't have bothered: It might not even crack the top 5, running into the combined family entertainment thresher of Inside Out and Despicable Me 4, and set to make just $6 million this weekend.