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Deadpool 2 To Take Box Office Crown From Infinity War
In a battle of the comic book movie blockbusters, Deadpool 2 is poised to be a clear winner against Avengers: Infinity War (now in its fourth weekend) at the box office. Marvel Studios kicked off the summer movie season a little earlier than usual this year by dropping their epic team-up at the end of April. Originally, Infinity War was set to open on May 4, but Marvel moved it up as a way to prevent the spread of spoilers. Another advantage of this shift was giving Earth's Mightiest more of a cushion between its premiere and fellow tentpoles.
It's safe to say things turned out very well for Infinity War, as it took advantage of a weak crop of competition (mainly niche films trying to be counter-programming) en route to becoming one of the highest-grossing films of all-time. Currently, it stands at a whopping $558.7 million domestically and it should continue to do well commercially. However, its three-week reign at the top of the charts is about to come to an end thanks to the arrival of a certain Merc With a Mouth.
Per Box Office Pro, Deadpool 2 is set to be the runaway victor during its opening weekend with an expected haul of $133 million. That opening weekend is considerably lower than earlier projections of $150 million, but that is still a very successful start. In fact, the current estimate is slightly higher than the original Deadpool's $132.4 million three-day opening from a couple years ago. Fox should be quite pleased with that performance.
With a fresh superhero movie on the block, it means the older one will begin its descent down the charts. Infinity War is thought to come in second place as it nears $600 million Stateside. The top five should be rounded out by Book Club, Show Dogs, and Life of the Party. None of that trio has exceptionally great buzz (though Book Club is scoring generally positive reviews), but they should all be able to draw in their target audience and others who are looking for something besides comic book madness.
Circling back to Deadpool 2, it's highly encouraging there is no drop-off between it and its predecessor. Fox, whose X-Men franchise is currently a giant question mark, is banking heavily on Wade Wilson to be the poster boy moving forward. There are already plans in place for an X-Force movie with stars like Josh Brolin and Zazie Beetz contracted for multiple films, so Deadpool 2 needed to deliver on all fronts to keep the train moving. With its Certified Fresh Rotten Tomatoes score and an impressive box office debut on the way, it looks like Deadpool is here to stay.
