Deadpool & Wolverine Box Office Climbs, Massive 2nd Weekend

Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds nets another $28.3 million on Friday.

Deadpool & Wolverine remains in the driver's seat at the box office in weekend #2. The Marvel Studios movie managed to pul in a staggering $28.3 million in its second Friday in theaters. That has Deadpool & Wolverine poised to bring in $94 million, or more, over the next couple of days. Achieving that number would bring the Shawn Levy movie ahead of Passion of the Christ for the highest-grossing R-rated film in the United States or Canada. There's some chatter that Deadpool & Wolverine could end its domestic run with $500 million in total gross. All of those numbers mean it would be the 5th best second weekend for a Marvel movie and the 8th highest overall. For a theater environment that's come under so much fire from the press, things look peachy for blockbusters right now.

All that free publicity online for Deadpool & Wolverine probably hasn't hurt matters at all. Everywhere you look, someone is posting about one of the cameos or learning about *NSYNC's "Bye Bye Bye" for the first time. Director Shawn Levy and his stars are getting in on the act as well. Ryan Reynolds has basically opened the floodgates on some of the surprises and Hugh Jackman's having fun with the fans as well. Some of the surprise cameos are doing interviews now and giving people a behind the scenes look at how this all came together. So, in effect, positivity breeds more positivity. (Some may argue that the film itself deserves some credit. But, in a post-Barbenheimer world, the power of an event must not be cast aside.)

How Good Is Deadpool & Wolverine?

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(Photo:

A great time at the movies

- Marvel)

Wow, all this box office mania is fun to talk about, the question of how good Deadpool & Wolverine really is lingers in the air. The raining number one movie in the world has a lot to love about it, especially if you love seeing Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in their iconic roles, together again. ComicBook's Jenna Anderson applauded both men for their commitment to each other, and their drive to provide the most fun experience to the movies this year. She also highlighted the emotional heft of some moments in Deadpool & Wolverine in her review for our site.

"Instead, Deadpool & Wolverine keeps a thematic core that tackles insecurity, failure, and loneliness at virtually every turn," Anderson said. "While it takes a few beats for the surprisingly small-scale story to kick into high gear, those emotions certainly fuel our two protagonists, who are charting their own courses toward a future that will hopefully be a little bit kinder to them." 

"But those emotions also seem to fuel the entire existence of Deadpool & Wolverine, as the movie argues that the ambition of breaking impossible box-office records and expanding a cinematic universe shouldn't get in the way of telling a story that viewers actually care about," she argued. "Even in a movie that will surely break box-office records, and in a cinematic universe that still continues to grow, it's a sense of honesty that is refreshing."

Do you think Deadpool & Wolverine will beat Joker? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!