Opening with previews last night ahead of its full release today, 20th Century Fox’s “Deadpool” has set the records for both an R-rated Thursday night preview and a February preview. The Ryan Reynolds-led comic book adaptation took in a gross of $12.7 million, easily beating the $8.6 million made by “Fifty Shades of Grey” in the same February weekend slot last year.
That figure is also far ahead of comedy sequel “Zoolander” which pulled in $750,000 from Thursday night previews. It is expected to open in the low $20 million range, though may go lower considering that film’s shocking reviews which sit at 22% positive on Rotten Tomatoes.
Up until a few hours ago, four-day estimates for “Deadpool” over the holiday weekend hovered anywhere between $60-80 million depending upon whom you ask – putting it in line with other R-rated comic book openings like “300” ($71M) and “Watchmen” ($55M).
That has been shattered however as THR has just reported that the film is on course to gross over $35 million for Friday alone, and closer to $90 million or even $100 million over the long Valentine’s Day & Presidents Day weekend.
Comparisons are tricky due to the film’s R-rating, but even so it’s remarkable and on par with PG-13 juggernauts like “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” which went on to gross three-quarters of billion worldwide each. More as it develops.