“Borderlands” Fails as Queer R-Rated “Deadpool and Wolverine” Crosses $1 Billion!

The live-action R-rated Marvel movie Deadpool and Wolverine continues to print money, with the film surpassing the coveted $1 billion mark at the global box office. The live-action adaptation of the Borderlands video game, on the other hand, failed to excite viewers.

Starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, Deadpool and Wolverine was able to keep the number one spot at the box office by collecting approximately $54.1 million at the domestic market during the film’s third weekend of release. With the domestic haul being almost $494 million, the movie has made more than $1 billion globally against a reported produced budget of $200 million. It is on track to surpass 2019’s Joker as the highest-grossing R-rated movie ever.

You can expect Deadpool to pop up in other MCU movies and you know that a fourth installment in the franchise will come soon. There’s just too much money on the table for the House of Mouse not to continue using the Merc with a Mouth.

You can read our review of Deadpool and Wolverine here. Frankly, I didn’t care for the film, but I can see the hype around it and why it continues to be a stronger performer.

Reynolds’ wife Blake Lively snagged second place with It Ends With Us collecting $50 million. That’s an impressive number for the romantic drama based on the 2016 novel by Colleen Hoover. It has managed to collect around $80 million globally against a reported production budget of $25 million. So, a sequel, based on It Stars With Us, is likely happening.

The movie has a current Critic Score of 58% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the Audience Score is 94%.

Coming back to the action-oriented fare to watch on the big screen, the live-action adaptation of the Borderlands video game failed to excite viewers and critics alike. Featuring a star-studded cast including Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Jamie Lee Curtis, it came in 4th place with a mere $8.8 million against a reported production budget of $110 million. Talk about a disaster.

I’m not a big Borderlands video game fan. But I do understand its appeal as an IP (debuting back in 2009). However, I saw none of that appeal from the promo material for the live-action adaptation. It just came across as a bit off to me. And I guess the fandom felt the same way.

The Critic Score on RT stands at only 9% while the Audience Score is 51%.

Another new release was the sci-fi horror flick Cuckoo starring Hunter Schafer. It managed to open with $3 million against a reported production budget of $7 million. The promos looked interesting to me and I did want to watch it. However, “life” happened. I am kind of disappointed it couldn’t manage to open a bit bigger.

The RT Critic Score is 77% with the Audience Score coming in at 62%. That’s respectable for such a film and I hope it gains more momentum once it hits digital and home release.

Top 10 Box Office Chart (August 9-11)

1. Deadpool and Wolverine – $54.1 million
2. It Ends With Us – $50 million
3. Twisters – $15 million
4. Borderlands – $8.8 million
5. Despicable Me 4 – $8 million
6. Trap – $6.7 million
7. Inside Out 2 – $4.9 million
8. Harold and the Purple Crayon – $3.1 million
9. Cuckoo – $3 million
10. Longlegs – $2 million

Did you watch Borderlands and It Ends With Us?

What did you think?

Let us know.

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(via Variety, Beyond the Trailer)

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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