‘Deadpool & Wolverine,’ Comic Con reveal bring marvelous box office outlook

After a weak first quarter at the box office, did the world just find the pair of brave heroes who will save the movie industry this year? A combination of “Deadpool & Wolverine” and a dramatic villain reveal at Comic Con might just make up for the previous quarter.

Marvel Studios’ “Deadpool & Wolverine” was released on July 26 and brought in $211 million in its domestic debut. The movie set the record for the best opening weekend for an R-rated movie. The film surpassed the $132 million garnered by “Deadpool” (2016) and the $125 million by “Deadpool 2” (2018).

The superhero collaboration starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman climbed to sixth on the list of biggest movie debuts of all time, above “Jurassic World” (2015) with its $208 million and below “Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi” (2017), which earned $220 million.

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“Deadpool & Wolverine” is the 34th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but the first to feature characters previously licensed under 20th Century Fox. Disney announced its MCU is now worth more than $30 billion, making it the highest-grossing franchise in movie history.

As Disney shows pride over Marvel, it’s also reveling in the accomplishments of another brand under the “House of Mouse” — Pixar.

The animation studio’s latest film “Inside Out 2” is now the highest-grossing animated film. The movie has raked in $1.46 billion globally so far. It took the title from another Disney hit, 2019’s “Frozen II.”

So all of this is good news for Disney, but what about the overall box office itself? According to Comscore’s Senior Media Analyst Paul Dergarabedian, with the performances of “Deadpool and Wolverine” and “Inside Out 2,” the outlook is brighter for the industry’s prospects in 2024.

While there likely won’t be a phenomenon like 2023’s “Barbeheimer” that brought the domestic box office revenue over the $9 billion mark, Dergarabedian suggested 2024 might end up in the $8 billion plus range. He said that would still be quite impressive given how 2024 started with lackluster sales and overall buzz.

So far this is only talking about 2024, but excitement is already building for what’s coming to theaters in the future — especially when it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

At San Diego’s Comic Con, Marvel gave fanboys and fangirls plenty of news to look forward to include the reveal that actor Robert Downey Jr. is returning to the MCU. He is returning not as the heroic Iron Man, but as the villainous Doctor Doom.

The studio is bringing Downey in as it ties up its multi-verse arc with the next two Avengers films in 2026 and 2027. Marvel is hoping the movies will be more successful than their recent crop of films.

As for the industry as a whole, there is a slate of highly anticipated films in the upcoming years with a good number of them being sequels. However, as the past shows, that’s not a bad thing — especially when it comes to Marvel films. To circle back to the best opening weekends, the biggest one of all time was 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame,” making $357 million at the domestic box office.

Now, with the slew of anticipated movies ahead, Marvel and the film business as a whole are making plans. That means “Deadpool & Wolverine” will have some help in saving the industry in the years ahead.