‘Deadpool 2’ Passes Original Film at Box Office Thanks to China Release

Deadpool 2 is riding its release in China past the worldwide box office total of its predecessor.

Deadpool 2 has crossed $784 million at the worldwide box office thanks to its recent release in China. That surpasses the original Deadpool‘s $783 million box office total, the previous high mark for the X-Men movies franchise.

The first Deadpool movie was never released into Chinese theaters. The film was too graphic for Chinese censors and the filmmakers felt that it was impossible to clean up the film without having to rewrite the entire plot.

China got the PG-13 edition of Deadpool 2. North American audiences saw this version of the film during the holidays as Once Upon a Deadpool. In China, the film is called Deadpool 2: I Love My Home.

Once Upon a Deadpool earned $6 million in the United States during its two-week run. Internationally, it grossed a bit under $1 million.

The R-rated original Deadpool 2 earned $734 million worldwide. With its R-rated and PG-13 releases combined, Deadpool 2 has earned $324.5 million domestic.

Deadpool himself celebrated the film’s Chinese release with a video roasting several of his fellow superhero types.

“Yes, I know it’s taken a while, but I’m finally coming to China,” he says in the video. “I heard that all the boring superheroes like Wolverine, Spider-Man, Wonder Woman and Batman went to the usual spots — the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, a few roast duck restaurants. What a bunch of lemmings. Well, not me. I’m gonna meet the Monkey King, the Pandas in Chengdu, and the Dragon King in his crystal palace undersea. Don’t you try to stop me! I’ll see you soon, China.”

Deadpool 2 was meant to be to open up an entire R-rated subset of X-Men movies, with another Deadpool movie and an X-Force movie planned. Reports suggest that all of 20th Century Fox’s future X-Men plans have been scrapped as part of the acquisition of the studio by Disney.

Deadpool and X-Force creator Rob Liefeld responded to the reports by tweeting, “Pour one out for ol’ X-Force. “$800 million grosser easy.” Considering how high Deadpool 2‘s total has gotten, he’s probably not wrong.

The X-Force movie would have reunited Reynolds’ Deadpool with Deadpool 2 antagonist Cable, played by Josh Brolin. A version of the X-Force team appears in Deadpool 2, but only Zazie Beetz’ Domino survives the experience.

What do you think of Deadpool going to China? Let us know in the comments!

Upcoming X-Men movies include Dark Phoenix on June 7th, The New Mutants on August 2nd, and Gambit on March 13, 2020.