This year has been a whirlwind for box office records, though the success has mainly focused on two Marvel releases so far: Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War. If you didn’t expect Ryan Reynolds’s Deadpool 2 to arrive and shake everything up, you probably just weren’t paying enough attention. A new report from The Hollywood Reporter suggests that the highly anticipated sequel is poised to break at least two box office records for the opening of an R-rated movie.
The movie’s Thursday night preview earned it an impressive $18.6 million from 3,785 theaters, setting a record for an R-rated movie. With that solid opening, Ryan Reynold’s sequel is on course to make $52 million on Friday, totaling up to a projected total weekend return of more than $130 million.
Deadpool 2 could score the all time opening weekend for an R-rated movie, but the competition is tough: the movie that currently holds that title is the original 2016 Deadpool, which raked in $132.4 million during its opening weekend. The movie is also in the running to beat another record: the biggest Friday for an R-rated movie. That title currently belongs to It, which made $50 million on its first Friday.
Deadpool 2 will play in a total of 4,349 theaters in North America, making it the widest release in Fox history. This means the movie is perfectly set up to take the No. 1 box office throne from Avengers: Infinity War. Marvel fans need not worry about the fate of Infinity War, though: it’s set to make $31 million in its third weekend, setting it up to hit the $1.8 billion mark at the worldwide box office.
In case you still think the Merc with the Mouth deserved a bit more money, look overseas, where Deadpool 2 will open in most major markets this weekend as well. The profits there are currently projected to be north of $150 million. In total, Deadpool 2 is projected to make $350 million in the international box office on opening weekend.
