It’s official: Marvel Studios and Disney’s Deadpool & Wolverine has become the top-grossing R-rated film of all time at the global box office, not adjusted for inflation.
Directed by Shawn Levy and starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in what proved to be a stroke of casting magic, the movie shattered its latest — and most important record — on Thursday when passing up Todd Phillips’ Joker. Reynolds first shared the news on social media.
The Deadpool threequel finished Thursday with a global tally of $1.086 billion. That includes $516.8 million domestically and $568.8 million internationally.
Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix in the titular role, grossed $1.079 billion in 2019, not adjusted for inflation. They are the only two R-rated movies to have crossed $1 billion.
No. 3 on the list of top R-rated global performer is Christopher Nolan’s 2023 film Oppenheimer ($974.5 million), followed by Reynolds’ two previous Deadpool pics, The Matrix Reloaded and The Passion of the Christ.
Until Deadpool & Wolverine came along, Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, released 20 years ago, retained the crown for the top-grossing R-rated film domestically with more than $378 million in ticket sales.
The audacious third outing in the Deadpool series that began its life at 20th Century Fox is a huge win for Reynolds, the mastermind behind the franchise, as well as for Marvel Studios and the superhero genre in general. It’s the first superhero movie to cross $1 billion since Sony and Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home two and a half years ago, and the first Marvel/Disney MCU pic to cross the $1 billion threshold since Avengers: Endgame in 2019.
Deadpool joined the billion-dollar box office club last weekend and tied with The Avengers to become the fourth-fastest MCU title to speed past $1 billion (19 days). Avengers: Endgame tops the list (5 days), followed by Avengers: Infinity War (11 days) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (12 days).
It is the 55th movie to clear the $1 billion mark; the 31st Disney title to do so (that includes three 20th Century Fox films inherited in the larger Disney-Fox merger); and the 11th MCU movie, including two Sony Spider-Man films, Homecoming and No Way Home.
It’s the second film of the year so far to join the billion-dollar club after sister Disney/Pixar film Inside Out 2, which now tops the chart of the top-grossing animated film of all time with nearly $1.6 billion in global ticket sales. Disney is the only studio to ever deliver back-to-back $1 billion films in a given year.
Deadpool & Wolverine has smashed one record after another since debuting over the July 26-28 weekend, including quickly passing up the entire lifetime runs of the first two Deadpool films, both domestically and globally, after just two weekends in theaters. Deadpool‘s domestic earnings were $363.1 million for a global total of $782.6 worldwide; the second film’s domestic haul was $318.5 million for a worldwide total of $734.5 million
As to how far it can ultimately climb, most are predicting that the pic will land at between $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion, giving credence to Reynold’s theory and that he and the filmmakers succeeded in making the first four-quadrant, R-rated film.
