Deadpool & Wolverine shatter R‑rated box office records

Everyone was waiting for this moment. American viewers flocked to the theatres. On Thursday, at the movie "Deadpool & Wolverine" evening screenings, no seats were available in cinemas. Right away, even before the official premiere of the comic book adaptation, the first record was set.

For practically several months, no one had any doubts that "Deadpool & Wolverine" would achieve spectacular success in theatres. The only unknown was its scale. The trailers were breaking view records on the internet; social media was buzzing with the film's premiere, Hugh Jackman's return as Wolverine, and the pre-sale ticket numbers dispelled any doubts.

According to recent years' tradition, a day before the film's official premiere, you could see the movie a bit earlier during the evening screenings in selected theatres. And during these pre-premiere screenings, "Deadpool & Wolverine" broke the first record.

According to the first reports, during the evening screenings on Thursday, the comic book adaptation grossed at least CAD 48 million in American theatres, possibly even CAD 55 million. Either way, this is the best performance in history among R-rated titles (people under 18 can only watch the movie under adult supervision). The previous record belonged to... the second part of "Deadpool," which grossed just CAD 25.7 million.

"Deadpool & Wolverine" achieved a result on par with "Avengers: Infinity War," which grossed as much as CAD 356 million during its opening weekend. But that was a PG-13-rated production. The movie starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman won't achieve such results. Its audience will only be coming to theatres late afternoon and evening. Recent forecasts and pre-sale ticket results predicted a result of around CAD 235 million in the US, but the pre-premiere screening results give hope for an even better outcome.

Importantly, "Deadpool & Wolverine" is receiving excellent reviews from viewers. On Rotten Tomatoes, there have been over 2,500 film ratings, of which as many as 98% are positive. The comic book adaptation is also receiving good reviews from critics (80%). Everything seems to favour the film in breaking more records.