Box Office: It Ends With Us' Nabs $50 Million As 'Deadpool 3' Tops $1 Billion

It was a good weekend for Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively (and for Gru).

Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool & Wolverine became the ninth film this decade to pass $1 billion at the global box office. It’s the third Disney release to do so alongside Pixar’s Inside Out 2 ($1.59 billion and counting) and 20th Century Studios’ Avatar: The Way of Water ($2.3 billion). It’s also the first MCU flick (even while rooted in Fox properties) to do so since Sony’s Spider-Man: No Way Home ($1.91 billion) in late 2021. Warner Bros.’ Joker ($1.073 billion in 2019) is still the top-earning R-rated flick for at least a few more days. And Blake Lively’s $25 million This Ends With Us just nabbed a $50 million opening weekend sans a mask or marquee character, but more on that later.

With another $54 million (-44%) in weekend three for a $494 million 17-day domestic cume, and legs and totals on par with Jurassic World, it’s looking at a domestic finish between $625 million and $650 million, depending on the breaks. With $1.029 billion worldwide and counting, it’s certain to pass Iron Man 3 ($1.215 billion in 2013) to become the third-biggest “not an Avengers” superhero flick after Spider-Man 3 version 2.0 and Black Panther ($1.345 billion). We’ll see if Deadpool 3/Wolverine 4 passes the Chadwick Boseman-led action drama and where it ends up among the $1.3 billion-$1.6 billion likes of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Barbie, Top Gun: Maverick and Inside Out 2.

As evidenced amid this weekend’s D23 presentations, it’s all part of Bob Iger’s diabolical pre-exit plan to pump up the box office by cashing in on 2010s-era Disney nostalgia (IE - his 2005-2020 tenure as CEO) with the likes of Moana 2 and Avengers: Doomsday. Moreover, Deadpool & Wolverine, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the Avatar sequels and a planned stage show for The Greatest Showman are milking nostalgia for properties that are only in the Disney vault because Iger bought Fox. I hope it helps theaters, but with even the theme parks finally feeling the pinch of the “loot box” pricing, god help whoever takes over the Mouse House after that cow has been milked dry.