Disney's First R-Rated Movie Opening Sets an All-Time Record: 'Deadpool & Wolverine' (hollywoodreporter.com) 70
No R-rated film has ever earned as much in its opening weekend, reports the Hollywood Reporter — a whopping $205 million. (The previous record was $133.7 million, set in 2016 by the original film Deadpool...)
It's also the very first R-rated film ever released by Disney... [Deadpool actor Ryan] Reynolds has his own theory about its success. "Disney probably doesn't want me to frame it this way, but I've always thought of Deadpool & Wolverine as the first four-quadrant, R-rated film," Reynolds tells the Hollywood Reporter. "Yes, it's rated R, but we set out to make a movie with enough laughs, action and heart to appeal to everyone, whether you're a comic book movie fan or not."
There's reason Disney and others may bristle at labeling it a four-quadrant film, which generally is reserved for movies that work equally for males and females over and under 25. Afterall, it is perhaps the most violent and bloody Deadpool movie yet. Still, here's evidence to back up Reynolds' theory that it's playing to a far more broad audience than the usual Marvel Cinematic Univerese movie, even if it's skewing male by anywhere from 60 to 63 percent. So far, 13.6 million people have bought tickets to see it, on par with last year's Barbie, which was rated PG-13, according to Steve Buck's leading research firm EntTelligence. That's the most foot traffic ever for an R-rated movie....
"Once thought of as a sure-fire way to limit potential box office, the R rating, when properly applied, can be the key to unlocking massive box office, and this has proven to be the secret sauce for the Deadpool franchise," says chief Comscore box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "The creative freedom afforded by the less restrictive rating has enabled filmmakers to push the envelope and, particularly in the case of Deadpool & Wolverine, can deliver the kind of edgy, intense, profanity-filled comedy action that modern audiences are fired up to see on the big screen...."
It's also the biggest July opening of all time, the biggest opening of 2024 so far and Marvel Studios' biggest launch since Spider-Man: No Way Home in December 2021.
ScreenRant notes that Deadpool & Wolverine has already surpassed the entire global box office for The Marvels in just three days. It's the biggest debut for a film since James Cameron's Avatar: The Way of the Water in December of 2022 (according to the Hollywood Reporter). And they add that though the figures haven't been adjusted for inflation — it's still the eighth-biggest box office opening of all time.
But at the end of the day, it's just people enjoying a movie together. "Well, I'm not saying that other people should do this, but my 9-year-old watched the movie with me and my mom, who's in her late 70s," Reynolds reportedly told the New York Times, "and it was just was one of the best moments of this whole experience for me. Both of them were laughing their guts out, were feeling the emotion where I most desperately hoped people would be."
It's also the very first R-rated film ever released by Disney... [Deadpool actor Ryan] Reynolds has his own theory about its success. "Disney probably doesn't want me to frame it this way, but I've always thought of Deadpool & Wolverine as the first four-quadrant, R-rated film," Reynolds tells the Hollywood Reporter. "Yes, it's rated R, but we set out to make a movie with enough laughs, action and heart to appeal to everyone, whether you're a comic book movie fan or not."
There's reason Disney and others may bristle at labeling it a four-quadrant film, which generally is reserved for movies that work equally for males and females over and under 25. Afterall, it is perhaps the most violent and bloody Deadpool movie yet. Still, here's evidence to back up Reynolds' theory that it's playing to a far more broad audience than the usual Marvel Cinematic Univerese movie, even if it's skewing male by anywhere from 60 to 63 percent. So far, 13.6 million people have bought tickets to see it, on par with last year's Barbie, which was rated PG-13, according to Steve Buck's leading research firm EntTelligence. That's the most foot traffic ever for an R-rated movie....
"Once thought of as a sure-fire way to limit potential box office, the R rating, when properly applied, can be the key to unlocking massive box office, and this has proven to be the secret sauce for the Deadpool franchise," says chief Comscore box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "The creative freedom afforded by the less restrictive rating has enabled filmmakers to push the envelope and, particularly in the case of Deadpool & Wolverine, can deliver the kind of edgy, intense, profanity-filled comedy action that modern audiences are fired up to see on the big screen...."
It's also the biggest July opening of all time, the biggest opening of 2024 so far and Marvel Studios' biggest launch since Spider-Man: No Way Home in December 2021.
ScreenRant notes that Deadpool & Wolverine has already surpassed the entire global box office for The Marvels in just three days. It's the biggest debut for a film since James Cameron's Avatar: The Way of the Water in December of 2022 (according to the Hollywood Reporter). And they add that though the figures haven't been adjusted for inflation — it's still the eighth-biggest box office opening of all time.
But at the end of the day, it's just people enjoying a movie together. "Well, I'm not saying that other people should do this, but my 9-year-old watched the movie with me and my mom, who's in her late 70s," Reynolds reportedly told the New York Times, "and it was just was one of the best moments of this whole experience for me. Both of them were laughing their guts out, were feeling the emotion where I most desperately hoped people would be."
FOX owned by disney not really disney (Score:2)
FOX owned by disney not really disney
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TEXT without punctuation not really proper english sentence please learn to write properly thanks bye
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TEXT without punctuation not really proper english sentence please learn to write properly thanks bye
And bad punctuation [wikipedia.org] can make things more confusing ...
Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.
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Let's eat Grandma!
Let's eat, Grandma!
Punctuation saves lives.
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TEXT without punctuation not really proper english sentence please learn to write properly thanks bye
Oh would you please give him a break? He is creamier's son in law after all. As well, he probably doesn't realize that Fox News isn't owned by Disney:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
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TEXT without punctuation! Not really proper. English sentence. Please learn to write. Properly, thanks. Bye/
Re:FOX owned by disney not really disney (Score:5, Informative)
The film was not produced or distributed by 20th Century Studios (formerly 20th Century Fox). While Fox previously worked on a third Deadpool film, it was abandoned and Disney started over on a new film.
The film was produced primarily by Marvel Studios (alongside Maximum Effort and 21 Laps Entertainment) and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
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There are gay and lesbian characters in Deadpool 3, and one of the primary villains is played by a non-binary actor. There are also plenty of race and gender swapped Deadpool variants. Plus the most popular X-Man movie character is turned into a mass murdering failure, albeit with a redemption arc in the movie. Nearly everything you complained about in recent Disney movies was present in this film.
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Got news for you: the production teams that actually made the movie are quite diverse (see, for example: https://www.axios.com/2023/02/... [axios.com]).
That it didn't appear to you to have a "woke" message doesn't matter - woke already won.
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And because of that, not even their first R rated title. That's Down and Out in Beverly Hills.
Re:FOX owned by disney not really disney (Score:5, Informative)
Not even as much separation as 20th Century: Touchstone never existed as a distinct business operatoin, and was nothing more than a label that Disney used to release films that didn't fit the Disney brand. Such as R-rated films. It was basically just the equivalent of a pen name for the studio.
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During the years where Miramax had most of their success, they were also just a Disney subsidiary. Many of those "independent" films weren't really that independent.
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Yeah, there were less bouncing titties than expected, but they made up for it with homoerotic dick jokes and stabbing people in the groin.
Hugh Grant was a pretty good sport, though. He looked ridiculous in quite a few scenes.
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You must have missed he bit in the summary about how this is shaping up to be a "four quadrant" movie, meaning it appeals to men and women alike, both over and under the 25 year age bracket. Your obvious disdain for the "marginalized comic book fan" is not justified by the success of this movie.
Of course, that's just a claim made in the summary. Time will tell how that shapes up.
I will agree that the formula for a successful movie generally involves aiming a bit low and pandering to the more petty aspects
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Back in the 70s, if it had an R rating, you could *count* on seeing an awesome rack at the 40 minute mark. And often by a girl who looked happy or horny instead of depressed. Today, a lot of movies mix sex and nudity with bad vibes. No wonder the birth rates down.
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Actually, "The Boys" TV show is the only "superhero" work that is somewhat watchable, occasionally with some great moments.
Like this one: https://youtu.be/rMtvgk3__HM?f... [youtu.be]
Everything else in the "superhero" genre is serving basically the same function as porn - an easy substitute for something the recipient wants, but is afraid to go after.
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Actually, "The Boys" TV show is the only "superhero" work that is somewhat watchable, occasionally with some great moments.
At least you started with "actually."
The Boys is repulsive filth.
Everything else in the "superhero" genre is serving basically the same function as porn - an easy substitute for something the recipient wants, but is afraid to go after.
I'm sure that's what was on Richard Donner's mind when he made Superman in 1978.
Re:Sure (Score:4, Insightful)
The Boys is repulsive filth.
"The Boys" is, among other things, a hilarious commentary on the "superhero" crap that passes for "culture".
I'm sure that's what was on Richard Donner's mind when he made Superman in 1978.
Of course it was. "How can I emulate the success of George Lucas? Of course! Sell the losers the idea that they are all 'supermen' in loser clothing!" is basically all that it amounted to.
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The Boys is clumsy by comparison in this respect.
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Could be. I'm not too much into watching TV shows, and I happened by the Boys by accident, but it tries to do a lot more than laugh at the superheroes. Thanks for the reference, I'll look it up if I have time.
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The series that really did it for me was "The Wire" by David Simon. I felt like I really got to know the characters as well-rounded, complex people.
But everyone watches TV & films for a variety of reasons. I still enjoy a simple story or being mindlessly entertained for a couple of hours too.
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The Boys is repulsive filth.
"The Boys" is, among other things, a hilarious commentary on the "superhero" crap that passes for "culture".
I disagree, it has nothing against superheros or the culture that produces superhero movies, it's a dark satire on capitalism and modern celebrity culture told via superheros.
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Yeah, right, it has nothing against "superheroes" and "superhero culture", except it portrays the former as the opposite of what they are in the real-world "superhero" movies; and it mocks the "superhero culture" at every minor opportunity.
Of course, as I said, that is one among many themes, and not the most important one. But it was the topic of this thread, and I like to stay on topic ;)
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Till they went gay.
Seems the viewership for "The Boys" has gone way downhill this past season....
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FFS Can ChatGPT learn Grammar Already (Score:2)
...It's also the very R-rated film
Reaally? Is that a sentence?
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Brilliant marketing blitz (Score:5, Insightful)
Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman have been marketing the hell out of this movie in the last week. Of course, there's been the traditional media: Kimmel [youtube.com], Kelly & Mark [youtube.com], The View [youtube.com], GMA [youtube.com], and CTV [youtube.com], to name more than a few.
But what's really stuck out to me as something quite new is all the YouTube media channels they've also been hitting up: Hot Ones [youtube.com], Vanity Fair [youtube.com], Chicken Shop Date [youtube.com], and BuzzFead [youtube.com], again, just to name a few. I guess Ryan really gets this marketing angle better than most of Hollywood gives him credit for.
I wonder if Reynolds and Jackman have been getting any sleep.
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Jackman looks like Carrie Fisher in her last SW movie, even with the ridiculously dyed hair.
Luckily for the "franchise", most of the rest of the "superhero" characters are just masked dolls, so the going concern that owns the "intellectual property" can simply swap the "actors" without any loss.
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I guess Ryan really gets this marketing angle better than most of Hollywood gives him credit for.
Ryan's marketing agency, "Maximum Effort Marketing" (which was spun off from the combined marketing/production company), has repeatedly shown humor and quirky can appeal to a certain demographic. Sometimes "breaking the rules" is the way to succeed. Of course, any success will breed competitors trying to duplicate the Reynolds method. Some may succeed, and some will fail.
Re: Brilliant marketing blitz (Score:2)
Give Disney another couple years to admit defeat on Disney+.
It's already happened to Max and several other streamers, who now send their stuff to Netflix after a period of time to milk profits from a successful platform.
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It may have backfired a bit. I was talking past the cinema at the weekend and they had posters up in the window with a big 15 certificate and the title of the movie. They must have been getting a lot of kids wanting to see it.
Re:Brilliant marketing blitz (Score:4, Informative)
I guess Ryan really gets this marketing angle better than most of Hollywood gives him credit for.
He owns his own marketing agency and has a long history marketing various products outside of movies including for his mobile company, his gin company, and Hugh's coffee company.
"Skewing Male' (Score:2)
"...even if it's skewing male by anywhere from 60 to 63 percent"
Okay... so only skewing 63% male seems to me like proof that the movie has pretty broad appeal.
Touchstone merely a pseudonym label for Disney (Score:5, Informative)
Disney's First R-Rated Movie ...
Semantic games. Disney created and used Touchstone for more mature ratings since 1980s.
"Touchstone Pictures was an American film production label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Feature films released under the Touchstone label were produced and financed by Walt Disney Studios, and featured more mature themes targeted at adult audiences than typical Walt Disney Pictures films.[3][4] As such, Touchstone was merely a pseudonym label for the studio and did not exist as a distinct business operation.[1]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
If my calculations are correct (Score:2)
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Disney will smell $ and find some way to go completely screw it up by trying to make the next one appeal to even more people by watering down the characters, bigger cgi, and introducing more pointless kid friendly hijinks.
That's the worry... though luckily we can just not watch it and laugh as they waste money. Deadpool isn't something you can pull off once a year and have it be a successful hit; the irreverent charm would rub off quickly.
Not their first (Score:1)
I didn't see it, but I thought the first R-rated Disney movie was back in 1977: The Black Hole. It was linked in the news (Screenrant) today in the article "10 Star Wars Plot Holes", where it is described as "A Star Wars Ripoff Sandwich, But It's Good" (cross-promoting a Youtube video by Giant Freakin Robot).
https://screenrant.com/star-wa... [screenrant.com]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
It all sounds really kinky to me. A picture of Leia and Darth and Luke, a Star Wars sandwich, and like I said I didn't see it but I gues
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It was rated PG and released in 1979. Some elements are cheesy and ridiculous, but many are impressive, and it has a very interesting set of actors. It is darker than Star Wars, and conceived prior to it -- not a rip-off. I enjoyed it thoroughly as a kid and still re-watch it on occasion.
Not really surprising (Score:3)
Considering inflation exists, newer movies will always earn more than old movies unless they suck, of course.
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Not strictly true. There's a lot of competition in the top and there are quite a few nearly 20 year old movies in the top of box office records for opening weekends which are ahead of perfectly fine and competent films. "they suck" is not a fine enough granular definition to do such as complex system justice.
Oh come on (Score:1, Troll)
If Disney wants to make an impact, might I suggest a few things?
Jar Jar Binks getting gang raped by a bunch of Ewoks?
Natalie Portman naked and covered in hot grits?
Hermione in full bondage?
The list goes on.
I'm guessing ... (Score:3)
...that it didn't really need whatever made it an 'R', to make it as successful as it has been.
I mean the eventual general TV edit (assuming they still do those things) would probably have done equally well, had the movie itself just plain been made that way.
(and yes, I'm just guessing, because superhero movies just aren't my thing.)
Re: I'm guessing ... (Score:2)
You would have seen tons of backlash by dropping the rating. It would be the nail in Disney/Marvel coffin because it would demonstrate that shit will never be good under Disney.
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...that it didn't really need whatever made it an 'R', to make it as successful as it has been.
Then you simply don't know Deadpool. Not making it an R film would be basically like taking a shit on the source material. The Merc-with-the-mouth was fundamentally a gore story featuring endless dismemberment all the while mouthing off in the worst possible ways. The only thing that the movie had that the comics didn't was actual sex (the comics only had sexual innuendo).
Just for fun, here's a picture from the comics featuring Deadpool's intestine wrapped around the tusks of an elephant on which he's impa
All I can say is: (Score:2)
"Yay now is fighty time, fighty time, blood blood blood."
First R rated film? It is to laugh. (Score:2)
"Disney's first R rated movie"... only if you bend your perception all out of shape. IMDB lists 38 R rated movies released by Disney owned studios. This film was another one released by a Disney owned studio, Marvel Studios.
So yeah, no.
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Wait, am I the only one who (Score:2)
...avoids movies that aren't rated R?
Life itself is rated R. There is cursing and death and nudity every day. Why would I want to watch the Care Bears frolic with Rainbow Brite?
When I'm scrolling a streaming library, I deliberately prioritize finding things that are rated R or TV-MA or has some kind of content warning attached.
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Life is actually rated X because it includes sex. Why aren't you avoiding all R-rated movies and only watching those rated X?
OH absolutely. You're right about the principle, but the outcome should be in the opposite direction: I don't think intelligent grown adults should need an X rating.
If you can't handle adult situations, don't watch cinema made for adults. Stick to Disney cultural-appropriation fairy tales and Pixar's suburban sitcom modern fairy tales.
Over the past 10 years you can go to any theater in the country pretty much any weekend and watch various superheroes and supervillains and super-psychopaths and super-aliens