‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ First Day $8M+ Presales Are Best For R-Rated Movie; Ahead Of ‘The Batman’, ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3’

Marvel

Disney Marvel Studios’ first R-rated release, Deadpool & Wolverine, is already heating up eight weeks before its release having already collected some $8M in first day ticket sales. The Shawn Levy directed, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman starring threequel opens July 26. That’s pretty remarkable for an R-rated movie two months before release.

While there’s no direct comps on Deadpool & Wolverine ticket sales in post-Covid history, its current cash bests the 24-hour advance ticket sales of Warner Bros/DC’s The Batman ($6.5M), Disney Marvel Studio’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ($6M) and Lionsgate’s R-rated John Wick: Chapter 4 ($1.4M). The Batman and GOTG3 opened to respective 3-day weekends of $134M and $118.4M.

Deadpool & Wolverine has been forecasted as one of a handful of tentpoles that will truly work this summer and bring back a mass audiences. The other titles include Inside Out 2, Despicable Me 4 and Twisters.

AMC Boss Adam Aron was over the moon on Twitter about the news of Deadpool & Wolverine, writing, “Some 200,000 movie fans have bought their AMC tickets already. This is more Day 1 ticket sales at AMC than for any other R-rated movie ever.”

Combined, two Deadpool movies have grossed $1.56 billion at the global box office. This portion of the Marvel franchise was previously handled by 20th Century Fox pre Disney merger.

The first Deadpool in February 2016 opened to $132.4M stateside, while the second movie opened to $125.5M in early May 2018.