Deadpool 2 Breaks R-Rated Opening Day Box Office Record

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Deadpool 2 has already set another record, this time for the opening day box office total for an R-rated film. More than two years after the original Deadpool hit theaters and became the third R-rated film in movie history to crack the $300 million mark domestically (it went on to make $363 million overall), the stakes were without a doubt high for Fox's Deadpool 2, Ryan Reynolds' second foray into the insanely entertaining world of the Marvel superhero affectionately known as the Merc with a Mouth.


Thanks to an ingenious marketing campaign that heavily involved Reynolds and Josh Brolin, who landed the coveted role of Cable, the hype machine for Deadpool 2 has been churning for months, and only ramped up in intensity over the past couple of weeks as the actors and their fellow cast and crew members hit the press circuit worldwide. Now, only a day into its release, it appears that all the hard work put into the movie is paying off... big-time.


THR, reports that Deadpool 2 grossed $53.3 million at the domestic box office on Friday, setting a new record for R-rated films. The tally eclipses the previous day one R-rated record set by Stephen King's IT, which hurdled to $50 million in its opening day last September. Deadpool 2's Friday total includes the $18.5 million the film made in Thursday night previews, which in itself was a record-breaking total. Deadpool 2 is playing in 4,349 theaters domestically, which is the widest-ever release for a Fox film, but not the widest for a live-action film. That record is currently held by Marvel's Avengers: Infinity War.


The next question will be if Deadpool 2 can top the four-day President's Day weekend tally of $152.1 million the original Deadpool opened with in 2016? (Not counting the holiday, Deadpool made $132.4 million in the Friday-Sunday frame, which is still a record.) Early Deadpool 2 tracking estimates pegged the film to open in the neighborhood of $100 million, but more recently, those estimates were adjusted upward to as high as $150 million. Deadpool 2 could also bring in as much as $150 million internationally this weekend.


While the final numbers have yet to shake out, there's no question there's a new sheriff in town when it comes to a superhero movie ruling over the domestic box office. Avengers: Infinity War, which held down the No. 1 position since its opening in late April, is estimated to come in at No. 2 at the U.S. box office with $28 million to $30 million in ticket sales, just enough to push the film past the $600 million mark domestically.


Currently, Infinity War has earned $573.6 million domestically and $1.1 billion overseas for an astonishing total of $1.7 billion to date. Of course, Deadpool 2, with its R-rating, won't even come close to approaching those numbers, but the huge returns for the film will go a long way as Deadpool, Cable, and the rest of the team prepare for writer-Drew Goddard's X-Force movie.