The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) by Disney has made history by becoming the first film franchise to surpass $30 billion at the global box office. This milestone was announced by studio chief Kevin Feige during the studio’s Hall H presentation at San Diego Comic-Con.
The newest addition to the MCU, “Deadpool & Wolverine,” was the final push needed to reach this milestone. The movie earned $96 million on its opening day in North America, setting a new record for an R-rated release and ranking as the sixth-highest opening day of all time. It’s expected to bring in between $195 million and $205 million domestically and around $380 million to $400 million worldwide by the end of the weekend.
The MCU, which began with 2008’s “Iron Man,” has released 34 films over 15 years, becoming one of the most successful film franchises ever. Among its hits are “Avengers: Endgame” ($2.799 billion) and “Infinity War” ($2.05 billion), two of the highest-grossing films of all time. Even movies considered less successful, like “Eternals” ($402 million), “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” ($476 million), and “The Marvels” ($206 million), would be big wins for other studios, though they didn’t make a profit for Disney due to their high production costs.
In comparison, other top-grossing franchises include Sony’s “Spider-Man” ($10.6 billion from 10 films), “Star Wars” ($10.3 billion from 11 films), “Harry Potter” ($9.6 billion from 11 films), and “James Bond” ($7.8 billion from 25 films). These franchises have a lot of ground to cover to catch up with Marvel’s superheroes.
“Deadpool & Wolverine,” directed by Shawn Levy, brings together Ryan Reynolds as the wisecracking Deadpool and Hugh Jackman as the tough Wolverine. The film also stars Emma Corrin as Cassandra Nova, Matthew MacFadyen as Mr. Paradox, Rob Delaney as Peter, and Leslie Uggams as Blind Al.
