'Deadpool' news: Fox's record-breaking earnings, sequel in the works
Marvel Comics' "Deadpool" hit the domestic box office with a whirlwind $132 million earnings during its opening weekend, double the critics' initial forecast.
Box Office Mojo reports the that the R-rated superhero picture debuted with $47 million gross earnings. As of Feb. 16, it has raked in more than $316 million in the worldwide box office against a reported production budget of $58 million.
The monstrous success of "Deadpool" breaks the rest of the R-rated film records in box office history as it surpasses "Fifty Shades of Grey," which earned $85 million on its opening weekend in the domestic box office. The previous trophy holder for record-breaking R-rated action films in the domestic box-office was "The Matrix Reloaded," which garnered a little over $91 million on its opening weekend.
20th Century Fox celebrates this success as seen through their social media updates, as "Deadpool's" box-office domination is also Fox's biggest opening weekend earnings that even beat "Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith" by a little over $24 million. Fox's excitement over this recent success is eminent that they already approved a sequel and contracted the same screenplay writers of "Deadpool" - Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese.
As seen in the post-credits of "Deadpool," it shows that a new Marvel character called Cable will join the quirky R-rated superhero film. Based on Marvel Comics canon, Cable is a character from the future. His appearance on the next "Deadpool" movie implies time-traveling aftermaths and some critics who follow the comics suggest that an "X-Men" character may show up as well.
"Deadpool" is Fox's first attempt at an R-rated superhero movie. Its box-office success serves as a go signal for them to treat future "X-Men" movies in a different light. This is suggestive that the surge of comic readers and followers of "X-Men," "Deadpool," and other Marvel Comics materials have already aged into adulthood, hence the warm acceptance of a more mature depiction.