Deadpool & Wolverine just broke its biggest box office record yet

Deadpool & Wolverine has already shattered box office records, but it’s just broken its most important one, surpassing DC’s Batman antihero spin-off, Joker.

The arc of Deadpool & Wolverine’s theatrical run is a compelling narrative in and of itself. The movie has shattered box office records left and right and even surpassed The Passion of the Christ to become the biggest R-rated movie of all time in the US.

But it’s not stopping there. As Marvel revealed in a new video, Deadpool & Wolverine has surpassed Joker’s coveted highest-grossing R-rated film worldwide record.

The two films are already outliers on the list, as they’re the only R-rated films to also be in the top 50 highest-grossing films of all-time (2023’s Oppenheimer just misses that list, falling almost $50 million shy of Alice in Wonderland’s $1.02 billion box office.)

But Joker was a surprise R-rated hit, spurned by a grassroots fan movement that saw the movie swell to a box office success no one saw coming. Its $1.07 billion box office drops it comfortably as the 37th highest-grossing film of all time, right behind The Dark Knight Rises.

Joker has comfortably sat at the top since 2019, but Marvel says Deadpool & Wolverine has finally overtaken it. Deadline reports that at the close of box office Thursday, Deadpool & Wolverine has grossed $1.085 billion.

While Deadpool & Wolverine did see some drop-off in its second week of release, it was expected that it would surpass Joker given its consistent ticket sales since releasing on July 26. Now the question is how long it will hold onto that spot.

The Joker sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux, is in theaters this October and is already receiving critical praise. While there is an expectation that Joker 2 will pull off the same box office dominance as the original, some have wondered how its jukebox musical approach will affect its performance.

If you want more record-breaking movie news, you can check out our list of the best-reviewed movies of the year so far here. Or, find all the new movies releasing this month here.