Deadpool & Wolverine cash in on their reunion with $205 million, the biggest opening weekend of 2024

Deadpool & Wolverine is adding fuel to the summer box office fire: the superpowered team-up is on track to debut with $205 million at the domestic box office.

The much-anticipated Marvel movie, which reunites Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman as the titular comic heroes, has already broken several records within days of its release, reports Comscore. For one, Deadpool & Wolverine is now in the lead for the biggest opening weekend of the year so far, debuting far ahead of previous champ and fellow franchise sequel, Inside Out 2 (which arrived to $155 million).

But the accolades don't stop there: after only three days of release, the film is already the sixth-highest grossing of 2024. Bigger yet, Deadpool & Wolverine has surpassed such titles as Black Panther, The Lion King, and Captain America: Civil War with the eighth biggest opening of all time (Avengers: Endgame still tops the list with $357 million.)

Proving that Deadpool is better with Wolverine, the film also made history by surpassing its predecessor, 2016’s Deadpool, which previously set the record for the biggest R-rated opening weekend ever with $132 million. The franchise now holds all top 3 slots, with Deadpool 2 coming in third per its $125 million debut.

The film's success also marks a much needed triumph for the Marvel Cinematic Universe — of which Deadpool has only recently become a member — after less than stellar box office performances from recent entries, including Eternals, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and The Marvels.

Naturally, Jackman and Reynolds wasted no time in celebrating the news with a joke already at the ready. Together, the duo recreated the infamous Wolverine picture frame meme.

“Wolverine and Deadpool is the #1 movie in the world,” Jackman wrote on X, beside a photo of himself reenacting the meme in full Wolverine attire. “Thank you ALL!”

Reynolds shared his own version, but his frame included a photo of Wolverine. “I miss Hugh already,” he wrote. In a follow-up post on Instagram Stories, Reynolds reshared the news with the caption, “This is kind of hard to process. But thank you to every. one who went to see the film this weekend… wow.”

Deadpool & Wolverine tracks the unlikely bromance between the Merc with a Mouth and the adamantium-clawed X-Man, who team up to defeat a common enemy when the multiverse is endangered. The film’s success continues a hot streak for the summer box office, which got off to a slow start before drawing moviegoers with such titles as Inside Out 2, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.

In a statement shared with Entertainment Weekly, President & CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) Michael O’Leary addressed those previous box office concerns in light of this recent success.

"We are thrilled to see Deadpool & Wolverine bringing people to theatres for the biggest opening weekend ever for an R-rated movie,” said O’Leary. “This is the kind of movie you want to experience on the big screen and the historic level of enthusiasm this weekend reminds us yet again that audiences know there is no experience like theatrical.”

He added, “We also know that when people go to the movies, they want to come back -- so we are excited to capitalize on this weekend’s energy with a robust theatrical slate in months to come.”

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Elsewhere in the weekend, Twisters continued its success with an estimated second weekend gross of $35.3 million towards its $154.9 million domestic total. Last week, the sequel to the 1996 mega-blockbuster Twister blew past expectations with its $80.5 million domestic debut. The film starring Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones, and Anthony Ramos is still going strong as it tells the story of serious storm chasers Kate and Javi who butt heads with a crew of so-called "Tornado Wranglers."

Speaking of success stories, Despicable Me 3 earned another $14.2 million in its fourth week of release, for a domestic total of $290.9 million. Just below it is another animated sequel, Inside Out 2, which $8.3 million to a whopping $613.4 million domestic gross. 

Rounding out fifth, Nicolas Cage is still frightening audiences as the titular series killer in Longlegs, a role that required a memorable transformation from the Oscar-winner. The horror flick from director Osgood Perkins earned $6.7 million towards its $58.6 million domestic total.