Deadpool 2 Pulls in $53 Million for Opening Day

It’s good to be a Merc With a Mouth. Per Box Office Mojo, Deadpool 2 pulled in a record-breaking $53.3 million opening day. It broke the previous record for the highest opening day ever for an R-rated movie. It was previously held by Stephen King’s IT, which opened to $50.4 million for its opening day.

By comparison, IT, had a $123.4 million opening weekend last September. However, that was released in a period that’s typically seen as a movie dead zone, and Deadpool 2 was released in a prime summer movie month ahead of Memorial Day Weekend.

Deadpool 2‘s release date also allowed it to avoid most of the heat from Avengers: Infinity War, which is currently in its third weekend of release. So Infinity War is mostly finished up as Deadpool 2 starts its own box office run.

The release also surpassed the opening day for the first Deadpool movie, which had an opening day of $47.3 million ahead of a $132 million opening weekend. Current estimates from BOM have Deadpool 2 finishing with about $133 million. That would put it slightly above the opening weekend for the original.

The film was well received by opening day audiences and scored well with critics, scoring 84 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. The sequel reportedly has a production budget of $110 million. These numbers guarantee that the latest installment of the franchise will be profitable and at least bodes well for the franchise’s continuation after a potential buyout by the Walt Disney Company. or even Comcast.

Deadpool 2 is open now in theaters. You can check out 411’s official review of the film RIGHT HERE.