Is 'Deadpool' outperforming previous superhero films?
'Deadpool' came in at No. 1 at the box office again this past weekend, beating new releases like 'Risen,' 'The Witch,' and 'Race.' 'Deadpool' is experiencing big success, but is it outperforming past superhero movies?
'Deadpool' stars Ryan Reynolds.
Joe Lederer/Twentieth Century Fox/AP
The sardonic superhero 'Deadpool' became the box office champion again this past weekend, coming in first place over new films like 鈥淩isen,鈥� 鈥淩ace,鈥� and 鈥淭he Witch.鈥澛�
The movie 鈥淒eadpool,鈥� which opened on Feb. 12, grossed an additional $55 million domestically this past weekend, while the animated sequel 鈥淜ung Fu Panda 3,鈥� which opened at the end of January, came in second place, earning more than $12 million.聽
鈥淩isen,鈥� a drama about a Roman soldier (Joseph Fiennes) who experiences some of the events of the life of Jesus, did the best of the new movies, coming in third with an opening weekend gross of more than $11 million. The horror movie 鈥淭he Witch鈥� followed behind at fourth place, grossing more than $8 million.聽
The historical drama 鈥淩ace,鈥� which centers on Olympic athlete Jesse Owens鈥� career, had a difficult time finding an audience, coming in at sixth place with a gross of more than $7 million. The comedy 鈥淗ow To Be Single,鈥� which opened earlier this month, came in above it, placing at fifth with a domestic gross of more than $8 million.聽
Industry watchers expected 鈥淒eadpool鈥� to do well, but its runaway success comes as a surprise to many.聽
But how does the box office gross so far of the story of Wade Wilson compare to the success of other superhero movies?聽
At a current estimated domestic gross of more than $235 million, 鈥淒eadpool鈥� is now the domestically highest-grossing superhero movie released by Twentieth Century Fox, beating such recent hits as the 2014 movie 鈥淴-Men: Days of Future Past鈥� and the 2006 movie 鈥淴-Men: The Last Stand.鈥�
鈥淒eadpool鈥� was released by Twentieth Century Fox, which produces movies about Marvel's 鈥淴-Men鈥� characters. The character of Deadpool was previously seen onscreen, also played by actor Ryan Reynolds, in the movie 2009 鈥淴-Men Origins: Wolverine.鈥澛�
How did 鈥淒eadpool鈥� beat the other 鈥淴-Men鈥� movies? posits that rather than just trying to promote itself as "different," as various superhero movies do these days, 鈥淒eadpool鈥� actually was different.聽
鈥淯nlike other studios that pretend their superhero movies are different genres鈥� 鈥楧eadpool鈥� is actually unique as a perverse, odd contrast to the Bryan Singer 鈥榅-Men鈥� movies,鈥� Crow writes. 鈥淲hile [鈥榅-Men: First Class鈥� director Matthew] Vaughn had a tonal departure that was less financially successful, Ryan Reynolds and Tim Miller鈥檚 鈥楧eadpool鈥� is a box office Cinderella story that mercilessly mocks the 鈥榅-Men鈥� movies and the superhero genre as a whole. And it works.鈥�
Of course, there have been decades of superhero movies. While 鈥淒eadpool鈥� is a hit, it is still below such superhero movie powerhouses as 鈥淐aptain America: The Winter Soldier,鈥� 鈥淚ron Man,鈥� and 鈥淭he Dark Knight.鈥� (This ranking of course comes with the caveat that 鈥淒eadpool鈥� is still only in its third week of release.)
What movie remains at the top in terms of domestic grosses?
That title is held by the 2012 鈥淭he Avengers.鈥� The Marvel film that brought together such superheroes that were previously seen onscreen as Iron Man and Captain America, earned more than $623 million domestically.聽
What contributed to the 鈥淎vengers鈥� success 鈥� to the point that it has held off all competition for almost four years and beat previous big box office hits, such as Warner Bros.鈥� Batman film 鈥淭he Dark Knight鈥�? 聽And what lessons could, perhaps, future "Deadpool" movies learn from the success of "Avengers"?
points to anticipation for 'The Avengers' as one reason. Audiences had been introduced to many of the characters beforehand and Marvel hoped that moviegoers would be excited to see all these people team up onscreen. Judging by the movie鈥檚 box office performance, they were.
鈥淚t has been marketed to audiences since 鈥業ron Man鈥� first appeared at Comic-Con in 2007,鈥� Kit wrote. 鈥溾�rouping several heroes in one movie also primed a wider swath of moviegoers to show up opening weekend. Not a fan of Chris Evans as Captain America? How about Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man or Chris Hemsworth as Thor?鈥澛�
wrote that the relatively new idea of releasing 鈥淎vengers鈥� elsewhere in the world before it debuted in the US also part of its success formula.聽
鈥淭he unusual choice to release the movie in many major international markets before releasing it in the United States 鈥� a strategy that has also reduced piracy 鈥� built a 鈥榞lobal countdown鈥� buzz for Avengers,鈥� Gomez and Nicieza wrote. 鈥淚nstead of getting American audiences angry, with each overseas record broken, and every positive review that came in from around the world, anticipation only increased for the film in the US.鈥�
Overseas success has been a key part of the performance by "Deadpool" as well, with writing of this past weekend's box office, "'Deadpool' picked up $85.3M in 74 offshore markets on its way to a $500M global cume as early as [Feb. 22] in what has started off as a stellar run."
In addition, "Avengers" had something "Deadpool" doesn't: A PG-13 rating. With the R rating for "Deadpool," the film is a success, but the rating is most likely keeping out superhero fans who aren't old enough to see the movie yet.聽
"The most reliable predictor of box-office success these days may not be a marquee name or a masked superhero," Los Angeles Times writers John Horn, Nicole Sperling and Steven Zeitchik wrote at the time of the release of "Avengers."聽"It's the PG-13 rating." They cited "Avengers" as a prime example of this.