'Deadpool' Smashes Opening Weekend Record for R-Rated Films
With an impressive $135 million USD run at the box office.
It seems like all the incessant marketing for Deadpool paid off. The Ryan Reynolds-headed superhero film has smashed the opening weekend box office record for an R-rated film (17+ without an adult), raking in a total of $135 million USD in the U.S. This overtakes the previous record of $91.7 million USD by a wide margin, set by The Matrix Reloaded in 2003. Rounding out the top five highest grossing R-rated films are American Sniper (2015), The Hangover Part II (2011), and Fifty Shades of Grey (2015), all of which earned between $85 – 90 million USD in their opening weekends. Deadpool‘s box office figure also makes it the 7th largest opening weekend of any superhero film, after Spiderman 3 – this is no small feat, considering that studios normally aim for a PG-13 rating to increase their marketability.
With a sequel already green-lit for the snarky vigilante, only time will tell if Deadpool’s formula of raunchy humor will continue with the same success.
