In a weekend marked by low theater attendance and quiet openings, “Deadpool & Wolverine” continued its dominance at the box office. For the second consecutive weekend, the Marvel blockbuster led the charts, earning $15.2 million domestically from Friday through Sunday. The film, which has become the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time, is on track to surpass the $600 million mark by the end of Labor Day, making it one of only 16 films to achieve this milestone.
The only new release that managed to make an impact was “Reagan,” a biopic featuring Dennis Quaid as the 40th U.S. president. Exceeding expectations, the film earned $7.4 million over the three-day weekend, with a projected total of $9.2 million including Monday’s estimates. While audiences have responded positively, giving it an A CinemaScore and a 98% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, critics have been less favorable, with a 19% rating on the site. “Reagan” ranked fourth on the charts.
The summer movie season, which runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day, concluded with a mix of surprises and disappointments. Despite strong performances from films like “Deadpool & Wolverine,” “Despicable Me 4,” “Inside Out 2,” and “Twisters,” the cumulative domestic box office for the season was $3.6 billion, a 10% decline from last year’s $4 billion. This drop is attributed in part to the overwhelming success of last summer’s “Barbenheimer” phenomenon.
The weekend’s top three also included “Alien: Romulus,” which earned $9.3 million, bringing its domestic total to $88.8 million. “It Ends With Us” followed closely, earning just over $7.4 million and maintaining its No. 3 spot for the third consecutive weekend. The film, starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, is projected to reach a domestic total of $136 million.
In a surprising boost, “Twisters” rounded out the top five with $7.2 million in its seventh week, demonstrating ongoing audience interest. The disaster film, a standalone sequel to the 1996 hit “Twister,” features Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones.
Other notable openings included “Afraid,” a horror-thriller featuring an AI villain, which earned $3.7 million with projections rising to $4.5 million through Monday. Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut, “Blink Twice,” earned $4.7 million in its second weekend.
New releases “1992,” focusing on the Los Angeles riots, and “Slingshot,” a sci-fi film starring Laurence Fishburne and Casey Affleck, had modest debuts, with earnings of $1.4 million and $485,282 respectively.
Estimated ticket sales for the weekend, according to Comscore, are subject to final revisions on Monday.
