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A Box Office K.O.: ‘Creed III’ Debuts to $58.7 Million

Michael B. Jordan, known for his roles in "Creed" and "Black Panther," touches the star with his name on it during a ceremony honoring him with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP)
Michael B. Jordan, known for his roles in "Creed" and "Black Panther," touches the star with his name on it during a ceremony honoring him with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP)
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A Box Office K.O.: ‘Creed III’ Debuts to $58.7 Million

Michael B. Jordan, known for his roles in "Creed" and "Black Panther," touches the star with his name on it during a ceremony honoring him with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP)
Michael B. Jordan, known for his roles in "Creed" and "Black Panther," touches the star with his name on it during a ceremony honoring him with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP)

"Creed III" punched above its weight at the domestic box office in its first weekend in theaters. The MGM release knocked "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" out of first place and far surpassed both industry expectations and the opening weekends of the first two movies in the franchise.

Playing in 4,007 locations in North America, "Creed III" earned an estimated $58.7 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. Going into the weekend, analysts expected the film to open in the $30 million range. The first "Creed" debuted to $29 million in 2015 and "Creed II" opened to $35 million in 2018.

Michael B. Jordan made his directorial debut with "Creed III," which pits his character Adonis against a childhood friend, Dame, played by Jonathan Majors. It’s the first in the Rocky/Creed films to not feature Sylvester Stallone, who chose not to return because of creative differences.

"This is beyond all of our expectations. And we knew that we had something special — we tested the movie and it tested great, but the public responded so resoundingly to it," said Erik Lomis, MGM’s head of distribution. "Everything went right here starting with the movie itself ... It was just up to us not to break it when they gave it to us and we didn't."

Strong reviews helped "Creed III," which is currently sitting at an 87% on Rotten Tomatoes, while audiences gave it an A- CinemaScore. The audience was largely male (63%), diverse (36% Black, 28% Latino, 23% white and 13% Asian/other) and young (55% between 18 and 34) according to exit polls.

Over 80% of general audiences said the film was a "definite recommend." With Black audiences, that number ballooned to 89%.

"I've been doing this a long time and that's rarefied air," Lomis said. "People love the movie."

It’s also the most expensive "Creed" film, with a reported production budget of $75 million, compared to the others which cost $35 million and $50 million. Internationally, "Creed III" earned $41.8 million from 75 markets, making its global debut $100.4 million.

It's a big moment for Amazon, who acquired MGM for $8.5 billion last year, and could have simply released "Creed III" on its streaming service with a limited theatrical run. But they chose theatrical, and it paid off.

"Amazon threw their weight behind this movie like only they can do," Lomis said. "They supercharged the campaign with marketing support across all their verticals on the platform and beyond the platform. That shows a commitment to the theatrical business model from Amazon and MGM, which I think should be exciting to everybody."

The company’s next major theatrical release is the Ben Affleck-directed "Air," starring Matt Damon, out next month.

"Ant-Man 3" slipped to a distant second in its third weekend in theaters with $12.5 million from North America and $22 million internationally. The Marvel and Disney film's global cume now stands at $419.5 million.

Third place went to Universal's "Cocaine Bear," which added $11 million in its second weekend in theaters to bring its domestic total to $41.3 million.

Crunchyroll’s "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba – To The Swordsmith Village" placed fourth with $10.1 million. The series is based on Koyoharu Gotoge’s manga about a boy avenging his family.

Lionsgate and Kingdom Story Company's "Jesus Revolution" rounded out the top five with $8.7 million. The film starring Kelsey Grammer as a pastor in the 1970s has made $30.5 million in two weekends in theaters against a $15 million production budget.

Opening outside of the top five was Guy Ritchie’s "Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre," a spy caper with Jason Statham, Hugh Grant and Aubrey Plaza that made $3.2 million from 2,168 locations this weekend. The film, originally an STX release, was in distribution limbo for some time. Lionsgate recently stepped in to oversee the domestic rollout.

The success of "Creed III" bodes well for other releases coming in March, including "John Wick Chapter 4" and "Shazam! Fury of the Gods."

"We’re going to have an incredible March," said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. "It’s going to feel more like summer than spring with hits coming one after the next that will create incredible momentum for the summer movie season."

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Movie Review: In ‘Deadpool & Wolverine,’ the Superhero Movie Finally Accepts Itself for What It Is 

Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds attend the premiere of "Deadpool & Wolverine" in New York City, New York, US, July 22, 2024. (Reuters)
Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds attend the premiere of "Deadpool & Wolverine" in New York City, New York, US, July 22, 2024. (Reuters)
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Movie Review: In ‘Deadpool & Wolverine,’ the Superhero Movie Finally Accepts Itself for What It Is 

Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds attend the premiere of "Deadpool & Wolverine" in New York City, New York, US, July 22, 2024. (Reuters)
Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds attend the premiere of "Deadpool & Wolverine" in New York City, New York, US, July 22, 2024. (Reuters)

If one thing is certain about “Deadpool,” it’s that its titular hero, for reasons never explained, understands his place in the world — well, in our world.

Indeed, the irreverent and raunchy mutant is sure to belabor his awareness of the context in which he lives — namely an over-saturated, increasingly labyrinthine multibillion-dollar Marvel multiverse which spans decades, studios and too many films for most viewers to count.

From its inception, the “Deadpool” franchise has prided itself on a subversive, self-aware anti-superhero superhero movie, making fun of everything from comic books to Hollywood to its biggest champion, co-writer and star, Ryan Reynolds.

It’s no surprise then, as fans have come to expect, that the long-anticipated “Deadpool & Wolverine” further embraces its fourth wall-breaking self-awareness — even as it looks increasingly and more earnestly like the superhero movie blueprint it loves to exploit. That tension — the fact that “Deadpool” has called out comic book movie tropes despite being, in fact, a comic book movie — is somehow remedied in “Deadpool & Wolverine,” which leans into its genre more than the franchise’s first two movies.

Perhaps this gives viewers more clarity on its intended audience. After all, someone who hates superhero films — I’m looking at you, Scorsese — isn’t going to be won over because of a few self-deprecating jokes about lazy writing, budgets for A-list cameos and the overused “superhero landing” Reynolds’ Deadpool regularly refers to.

But this time around, director Shawn Levy — his first Marvel movie — seems to have found a sweet spot. Levy is surely helped by the fact that the third film in the franchise has a bigger budget, more hype and, of course, a brooding Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.

That anticipation makes their relationship, packed with hatred and fandom, all the more enticing. Their fight scenes against each other are just as compelling as their moments of self-sacrificial partnership in the spirit of, you guessed it, saving the world(s).

Speaking of worlds, there is one important development in our own to be aware of ahead of time. The first two “Deadpool” films were distributed by 20th Century Fox, whose $71.3 billion acquisition by the Walt Disney Co. in 2019 opened the door for the franchise to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, “Deadpool & Wolverine” takes full advantage of that vast playground, which began in 2008 with Robert Downey Jr.’s “Iron Man” and now includes more than 30 films and a host of television shows. The acquisition is also a recurring target of Deadpool’s sarcasm throughout the movie.

Although steeped in references and cameos that can feel a bit like inside baseball for the less devoted, “Deadpool & Wolverine” is easy enough to follow for the casual Marvel viewer, though it wouldn’t hurt to have seen the first “Deadpool” and Jackman’s 2017 “Logan,” a harbinger of the increasing appetite for R-rated superhero violence. The Disney+ series “Loki” also gives helpful context, though is by no means a must watch, on the Time Variance Authority, which polices multiverse timelines to avoid “incursions,” or the catastrophic colliding of universes.

A defining feature of “Deadpool” has been its R rating and hyper violent action scenes. Whether thanks to more money, Levy’s direction or some combination of the two, these scenes are much more visually appealing.

But “Deadpool & Wolverine” does succumb to some of the deus ex machina writing that so often plagues superhero movies. Wade Wilson’s (the real identity of Deadpool) relationship with his ex (?) Vanessa is particularly underdeveloped — though it’s possible that ambiguity is a metaphor for Deadpool’s future within the MCU.

The plot feels aimless at points toward the end. One cameo-saturated battle scene in particular is resolved in a way that leaves its audience wanting after spending quite a bit of time building tension around it. While there are a few impressive stars who make an appearance, audiences may be disappointed by the amount of MCU characters referenced who don’t make it in.

The bloody but comedic final fight scene, however, is enough to perk viewers back up for the last act, solidifying the film’s identity as a fun, generally well-made summer movie.

The sole MCU release of 2024, “Deadpool & Wolverine” proves it’s not necessarily the source material that’s causing so-called superhero fatigue. It also suggests, in light of Marvel’s move to scale back production following a pandemic and historic Hollywood strikes, that increased attention given to making a movie will ultimately help the final product.