Deadpool 2 has already broken some commercial records, setting new all-time marks for Regal Cinemas advanced ticket sales. The original film was one of the biggest hits of 2016, pulling in a whopping $363 million domestically thanks to strong word-of-mouth and an excellent marketing campaign. Now that Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine is gone, Wade Wilson is arguably the face of the X-Men movie franchise - as evidenced by Deadpool being the series’ highest-grossing effort to date. While Dark Phoenix and New Mutants gear up for reshoots, Deadpool 2 keeps building hype.

For the highly-anticipated sequel, the Merc With a Mouth secured prime summer movie season real estate, being sandwiched between Disney tentpoles Avengers: Infinity War and Solo: A Star Wars Story. It’ll be interesting to see how those three films perform given their close proximity to each other, but it’s safe to say they’ll all be successful. Infinity War could top The Force Awakens’ opening weekend record, and now Deadpool is back rewriting the history books.

Per Deadline, in the first 24 hours of their availability, preorders for Deadpool 2 tickets are the highest Regal Cinemas has seen. In fact, there’s so much demand to see Wade and his X-Force allies in action, the previous figure was doubled in just 4 hours. Considering this is just a single theater chain (out of many in the country), it’s a promising sign Deadpool 2 will be a massive blockbuster for Fox this summer.

Early tracking for Deadpool 2 that came out at the end of March indicated the film could earn up to $100 million in its first three days, which would actually be below the original’s debut. However, box office projections are fluid and change as a release gets closer. Smartly, Fox put tickets on sale right after unveiling another strong trailer that delivered plenty of humor and action, making audiences enthused to see what the film has in store. It’s possible Deadpool 2’s actual box office intake will be higher than the estimates. It does have a nice three-week cushion from Infinity War, giving their similar target audiences plenty of time between superhero movies. There should be much interest in Deadpool 2.

Even if Deadpool 2 doesn’t match its predecessor at the box office, it’ll still be a very lucrative investment. Unlike most comic book adaptations, the Deadpool series is know for being mid-budget, making it much easier to turn a profit. It hasn’t been reported how much the sequel cost yet, but odds are it won’t be much higher than the first movie. Deadpool 2 could be in the black by the time its first weekend is over.

MORE: Deadpool 2 Final Trailer Breakdown

Source: Deadline

  • Deadpool 2 Release Date: 2018-05-18 X-Men: Dark Phoenix Release Date: 2019-06-07 New Mutants Release Date: 2020-08-28