Fox’s “Once Upon a Deadpool,” a reimagining of “Deadpool 2,” picked up an estimated $1 million from 1,566 theaters during Wednesday previews.
In the PG-13 version, the Merc with a Mouth retells the heroic sequel as a bedtime story to Fred Savage a la “Princess Bride.”
Because there aren’t clear comps, rival studios and industry analysts weren’t able to determine how just much the re-release could bring in this weekend. “Once Upon a Deadpool” was able to get a head start by launching on Wednesday, however, it faces sizable competition from new releases “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” “The Mule,” and “Mortal Engines.” “Spider-Verse,” Sony’s latest take on the web-slinging superhero, is expected to dominate in North America with an opening weekend between $30 million and $39 million.
“Deadpool 2” generated $734 million globally when it hit theaters this summer, with $318 million of that bounty coming from domestic markets. The R-rated version was never released in China, but a kid-friendly cut — sans a few f-bombs and with a little less gore — means other territories might be willing to give the raunchy mercenary a chance.
The studio partnered with F— Cancer (the organization briefly changed its name to Fudge Cancer for the movie’s two-week window) and a portion of U.S. ticket sales will go to the charity’s campaign dedicated to early cancer detection and prevention.