“Deadpool & Wolverine” Overtakes “Joker” as the Highest-Grossing R-Rated Film of All Time at the Box Office
Disney announced that its Marvel Studios' film starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman earned $1.086 billion worldwide in just 23 days
Jay Maidment/20th Century Studios/MARVEL; DC Comics/Warner Bros./Shutterstock
Ryan Reynolds in 'Deadpool & Wolverine' (left); Joaquin Phoenix in 'Joker'Deadpool & Wolverine has become the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time — overtaking Joaquin Phoenix's Joker, which previously held the title.
On Friday, Aug. 16, Walt Disney Studios announced in a press release that the latest installment of Ryan Reynolds' raunchy superhero comedy series had surpassed $1 billion in earnings across the globe last weekend, making Deadpool & Wolverine the highest-grossing R-rated film in box office history.
The Marvel Studios film, which also stars Hugh Jackman — his first time playing the comic book role since he starred in 2017's Logan — and was directed by Reynolds' frequent collaborator Shawn Levy, has earned $1.086 billion worldwide since its premiere 23 days ago, the studios added.
Related: Meet the Deadpool & Wolverine Cast: From Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman to a New Villain
Marvel Entertainment/Youtube
Hugh Jackman (left) and Ryan Reynolds in 'Deadpool & Wolverine'Out of all the movies released in 2024, Deadpool & Wolverine is now the second-highest-grossing film of the year, second only to Pixar's Inside Out 2, which crossed the $1 billion mark in July. This also means that Disney holds the top 2 spots of the year, and makes them the only studio ever to release back-to-back $1 billion films in a given year, per the press release.
Reynolds and Marvel also shared the news on social media. On Friday, the actor shared a post from Marvel Studios to his Instagram Stories that featured a message from the company's president Kevin Feige.
"Thanks for making Marvel Studios' first R-rated movie the biggest of all time," Feige wrote in the post. "It's fantastic to see that audiences are loving this movie as much as we loved making it. All those conversations were worth it!"
Disney shared several other statistics along with its box office announcement, including that Deadpool & Wolverine marks the the 31st Walt Disney Studios-owned movie to have surpassed $1 billion at the global box office, and it's the 11th movie to do so in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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Earlier this week, Reynolds, 47, also joked about sharing the box office spotlight with his wife, Blake Lively, as her recently-released drama film It Ends with Us grossed over $50 million domestically during its opening weekend after premiering, Variety reported. Deadpool and Wolverine grossed $54.2 million in domestic ticket sales during its opening weekend.
During an interview with Willie Geist on Sunday Today, which is set to air in full this weekend, Reynolds joked that their movies' competition at the box office this past month was "the only time in my life I've ever dreamt of coming in second."
"No, I think that's the sign of a good relationship," he joked, before delving into their relationship. "It's always been the one kind of constant with Blake and I: We really root for each other."
The occasion marked the first time in over 30 years that a married couple had their films top the box office, Variety added. The last time a celebrity power couple took over the box office was in 1990 when Bruce Willis starred in Die Hard 2 and Demi Moore starred in Ghost, which earned the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, respectively.
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