Deadpool Domination; Twisters Takes Off - Weeks 11, 12, & 13

There was a time when people said Disney would never touch the Deadpool series with a Pinocchio nose-sized pole. It was “too” against their image. To be fair, that was before American Horror Story started having promo touts on the Disney+ home page. Regardless, Disney has to be thanking their wise-cracking/blood gel pack stars that the Merc with a Mouth came to save the MCU.

Deadpool & Wolverine had the sixth largest opening of all-time with $211.4 million!!! It slotted right above Jurassic World ($208.8 million) and below Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi ($220 million). It was the second biggest opening since Covid behind Spider-Man: No Way Home ($260.1 million) and, of course, became the highest R-rated opening ever by besting the other two highest opening R-Rated movies… Yes, Deadpool 1 and Deadpool 2. To put that into perspective, D&W topped Deadpool 1’s record by almost $80 million!!!

There’s a pretty good precedent that films opening this huge go on to triple their first weekend total for their final gross. In other words, a third of their final gross is the opening weekend. Either way, penciling in D&W for something over $600 million looks like a lock. Just two little problems… One) There already is a film over $600 million this summer and Two) There’s just five more weekends left to catch it. Should be a fun race to the finale!

In other news, I think our fifth film for the final Top Five flew in. Twisters ignored being a sequel to a forgotten relic of the 90’s and forged its own path with a $81 million debut. In just two weeks, the film has already sucked-in $154.6 million. That’s placing it at #6 with a bullet on our chart with the Apes in its sight and it even has a chance to catch those Bad Boys as well. 

On a side note, I completely forgot how huge the first Twister movie was. It finished with $241 million in 1996. Its first weekend was $41 million (ok) and its second weekend was $37 million (WHAT). A not-even 10% drop from the first big opening weekend to the second?! That’s nuts now and even nuts in 1996. How did Warner Bros. wait 28 years for a sequel?!

In other non-relevant blockbuster pool news, Longlegs wins the award for indie-release of the year as the Silence of the Se7en throwback has made almost $60 million off a $10 million budget. Sadly, the fun-throwback vibes of Fly Me To The Moon just couldn’t take-off as it might not even get to a $20 million total at the theaters.    

The Top Five If Today Was Labor Day:

#1. Inside Out 2 - $613.7 million

#2. Despicable Me 4 - $291.4 million

#3. Deadpool & Wolverine - $211.4 million

#4. Bad Boys: Ride or Die - $191.8 million

#5. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes - $170.9 million

4th of July is Red, White, and Yellow - Weeks 9 & 10

 It’s hard to think about what’s more American: apple pie, baseball, hot dogs, or Minions?

Despicable Me 4 exploded over 4th of July Weekend with a $122.6 four-day debut. Gru and the crew were back for their latest mission and audiences were waiting with freeze-ray breath. That four-day take is about even with Minions: Rise of Gru from two years ago (yes, also over 4th of July weekend), so that bodes well for a film that might mirror the success of that film’s $370 million total. 

While the success of Despicable Me 4 may not have been surprising, the only 47% drop of Inside Out 2 (when faced with a direct family/animated film) was. Joy, Anxiety, and all those other emotions kept giving everyone the feels and it’s hard to see any film topping Inside Out 2 as “the” movie of the summer. It’s now at $534 million and looks like it could pass The Super Mario Bros. Movie at $575 million after its latest $30 million weekend for the second biggest animated film of all-time. Catching Incredibles 2 at $608 million would, obviously, be incredible. 

Meanwhile, A Quiet Place: Day One wasn’t so quiet with a $52 million debut. Certainly, a strong start for a spin-off film of the franchise which bodes well for other spin-off movies in the Quiet-verse. Still, this was a little shy of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ $58 million start, so Day One might need to make some more noise if it wants to catch those monkeys in the pool. 

Also, Kevin Costner’s lovechild Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 started with an $11 million opening weekend. Yes, about the same as The Stranger’s - Chapter 1. However, The Strangers cost $8.5 million to make and Horizon is in the triple million dollar digit category. Sure, that’s for all four of the Horizon films, though it’s hard to see how excited anyone’s going to be about making Chapters 3 and 4 now when no one ever cared about the first flick. 

Now, tons of people are throwing dirt on Kevin Costner and making fun of him for throwing so much of his own money on this dumpster fire, but hey, it’s his money and maybe more celebs should be putting their own capital forward for labors of love vs. cashing-in on the eighteenth reboot/rebrand/remake of the year. I mean, sure, “he’s an idiot,” yet let’s not forget that his project paid a lot of people (from actors to costumer designers to key grips to caterers) a lot of money while working to assemble this 12-hour, four-part monstrosity. Keep staying weird, Kevin Costner. The world’s more interesting that way.

The Top Five If Today Was Labor Day:

#1. Inside Out 2 - $534.1 million

#2. Bad Boys: Ride or Die - $177.4 million

#3. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes - $169.6 million

#4. Despicable Me 4 - $122.6 million

#5. IF - $110.8 million