The husband-wife duoRyan ReynoldsandBlake Livelydisplayed not only the power of their stardom this year, but also exercised their skills as producers, as well as their marketing acumen. Within a couple of weeks of each other, theydelivered the biggest box office hits of their respective careers, and despite the difference in tone and audience appeal of their films —Deadpool & WolverineandIt Ends with Us— they somehow found a way to combine their powers and generate dual publicity for both titles.
The fruits of their labor are now apparent; having played in theaters for several weeks,Deadpool & WolverineandIt Ends with Ushave nowgenerated a total of $1.5 billion in combined global box office revenue. Of this $1.5 billion haul,$1.26 billion has been contributed by the superhero blockbuster, whilenearly $300 million has come courtesy of the romantic drama. Incidentally, Lively played a cameo inDeadpool & Wolverine, and later revealed in a red carpet interview withE! Newsthat Reynolds wrote a key scene inIt Ends with Us.
The movie hasn’t been without controversy, with rumors suggesting thatLively didn’t get along with her directorand co-starJustin Baldoni.It Ends with Uswas originally slated for a release earlier this year, but was pushed until afterDeadpool & Wolverinehad sunk its teeth into the box office, allowing Lively to promote the movie on its heels. The film opened to mixed reviews, and currently sits at a “rotten” 57% approval rating on the aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes. Its audience score, however, stands at a far more positive 91%.
It’s a Match Made In Heaven
LikeIt Ends with Us,Deadpool & Wolverinealso has astronger audience score on RT; 95%, as compared to its critics' score of 79%. Directed byShawn Levy, the superhero blockbuster marks the titular characters’ first foray into theMarvel Cinematic Universe— the highest-grossing film franchise in history, with roughly $31 billion in global box office revenue. The movie was produced ona reported budget of $200 million;It Ends with Us, on the other hand, was produced on a reported budget of $25 million.
Deadpool & Wolverinehas grossed $606 million domestically so far, and is already the highest-grossing R-rated movie in history. It will soon overtakeThe Avengersto become the fifth-biggest superhero movie of all time at the domestic box office.It Ends with Us, based on the novel byColleen Hoover, has out-performed similar female-skewing literary adaptations such asThe Girl on the Train($173 million),Where the Crawdads Sing($145 million), andCrazy Rich Asians($237 million). You can watch both films in theaters, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
Deadpool & Wolverine
Wolverine joins the “merc with a mouth” in the third installment of the Deadpool film franchise.
