Box Office: ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Crosses $600M to Rule Labor Day, ‘Reagan’ in Close Race for No. 3
'Reagan,' starring Dennis Quaid, is in a close contest with 'Twisters' and 'It Ends With Us' as the topsy-turvey summer season comes to a close.
Labor Day weekend is never a big holiday for moviegoing, as most people mark the end of summer with other activities, and this year is no exception. Deadpool & Wolverine is the biggest headline of the four-day weekend as it stays No. 1 in its sixth outing and crosses $600 million domestically, becoming only the 16th film in history to do so, not adjusted for inflation.
The only newcomer landing in the upper reaches of the chart is the indie biopic Reagan, starring Dennis Quaid and based on Paul Kengor’s book The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism. After a better-than-expected Sunday, the film has found itself in a three-way contest with Twisters and It End With Us for either third or four place. The order won’t be determined until final grosses for the four-day holiday weekend are issued Monday.
Distributor SBD is estimating a four-day opening of $10.07 million, which puts it ahead of Twisters‘ estimated holiday gross of $9.56 million and It Ends With Us‘ estimated $9.5 million. Rival studios, however, show Reagan coming in lower.
Receiving blistering reviews — its critics score is 18 percent on Rotten Tomatoes — Reagan fared better with audiences, who gave the biopic an A CinemaScore. Box office analysts knew the film would play older but hoped the attention surrounding the 2024 presidential election would broaden the audience, with no such luck. Roughly 85 percent of ticket buyers are over the age of 35 — including an unheard of 66 percent over the age of 55, setting Reagan up for a promising run on premium VOD, a preferred platform for older consumers.