"Deadpool & Wolverine" Becomes Highest-Grossing R-rated Movie with $97M Second Weekend

After 10 days in theaters, “Deadpool & Wolverine” is already the highest-grossing R-rated movie ever.

In its second weekend, the Marvel Studios blockbuster, starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman as their comic book personas, continued to dominate the box office, collecting $97 million in the United States, according to studio estimates Sunday.

That raised its two-week total to $395.6 million, pushing it past the long-reigning top R-rated feature, “The Passion of the Christ,” which held that mark for 20 years with $370 million domestic.

Worldwide, “Deadpool & Wolverine” has quickly amassed $824.1 million in ticket sales, a total that already surpasses the global hauls of the first two “Deadpool” films.

The 2016 original grossed $782.6 million worldwide, and the 2018 sequel collected $734.5 million.

Shawn Levy directed “Deadpool & Wolverine,” which is a needed win for Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe. Despite the comic book behemoth remains in rarified air in terms of commercial appeal, recent entries like “Eternals,” “The Marvels” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” have stumbled and prompted questions about the long-term viability of the franchise.