There’s a lot of summer left for Marvel Studios/Disney’s Deadpool & Wolverine and this weekend the third installment will becoming the highest grossing chapter stateside in the Deadpool franchise, in addition to becoming the highest R-rated pic at the domestic B.O., with around $380M by Sunday.
Deadpool finaled its domestic B.O. at $363M, while Deadpool 2 ended its run at $325.M. The highest grossing R-rated movie at the domestic box office is currently Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ at $370.7M.
Already with Monday’s gross, Deadpool & Wolverine has surpassed the domestic cumes of all previous X-Men movies, slotting ahead of 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand‘s U.S./Canada B.O. of $234.3M.
In sum, weekend 2 of D&W at $84.5M will be part of what’s expected to be a No. 1 three-frame winning streak. That’s a -60% decline, which is right in the middle of the previous chapters’ second weekend holds of -57% and -65%. However, this Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman movie remains in overdrive, so it wouldn’t be alarming to see the movie land somewhere among the MCU’s top second weekends, those being Avengers: Endgame ($147.3M, -59%), Avengers: Infinity War ($114.7M, -56%), Black Panther ($111.6M, -45%), The Avengers ($103M, -50%) and Spider-Man: No Way Home ($84.5M, -68%). The diabolical duo continue to horde all the Imax and premium screens. Today’s take is expected to be around $18M, taking the running total to $279.1M.
Warner Bros. has their acquisition of the M. Night Shyamalan directed and written PG-13 thriller Trap starring Josh Hartnett as a creepy dad who may or may not be the terrorist at a Taylor-Swift-type pop star’s concert. Screenings weren’t held for press and critics. Do with that information what you will: Either the filmmaker is trying to keep a big secret about the ending, or the movie is unwatchable. On a positive note, Warner Bros cut a great trailer with an excellent cliffhanger which stoked exhibitors at CinemaCon last April. Last month, Warner Bros moved the release date up for Trap from Aug. 9 to the immediate wake of Deadpool & Wolverine. Outlook is good on tracking with $15M-$20M, particularly with older women over 25. Pre-shows are Thursday at 3PM. Canada and U.S. theaters booked are 3,150.
Columbia Pictures’ live-action take of Crockett Johnson’s 1955 children’s book, Harold and the Purple Crayon, isn’t looking good with a $6M opening at 3,300 sites for the $40M feature production (before P&A). The movie skews very young, and the IP, though classic, isn’t connecting in its execution. Critics aren’t bedazzled at 38% Rotten on Rotten Tomatoes. Sony’s financial stake in the movie, I hear, is under 40%, so not a lot of skin. In the pic, adventurous Harold (Zachary Levi) can make anything come to life simply by drawing it. After he grows up and draws himself off the book’s pages and into the physical world, Harold finds he has a lot to learn about real life–and that his trusty purple crayon can set off more hilarious hijinks than he thought possible. Carlos Saldanha directs. Previews start Thursday at 2PM.