Deadpool & Wolverine

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With the Success of Deadpool & Wolverine, will Disney Release More R-rated Films?


For my first blog, I want to talk about the movie Deadpool & Wolverine. It is the first Deadpool movie under the Disney brand since Disney purchased Fox, and the first R-rated movie Disney released in the Marvel cinematic universe[1]. The movie is already the top grossing R-rated movie of all time and is approaching $1 billion in worldwide receipts[2].


Disney has always been considered a family-friendly brand, and now the question is whether Disney start to make more R-rated films. My prediction as a cast member: yes, without question. For example, Disney has already brought Deadpool to the Disneyland Park as a roaming park character, the first time an R-rated character has appeared in any Disney Park. I’ve also been seeing quite a bit of Deadpool & Wolverine merchandise in the parks. So the movie is not only helping Disney with box office returns, but with all the Intellectual Property and merchandise tie-ins as well. Additionally, once Disney fully integrated their acquisitions, they began streaming movies like the first two Deadpool releases on their streaming platform in 2022[3].


The unanswerable question for me is what long-term impact this adult-targeted entertainment will have on the family-friendly Disney brand reputation. In the short term, the success of Deadpool & Wolverine and similar products is helping lift Disney financial performance[4]. With the theme parks business started to soften (a future blog topic for sure), Disney will definitely embrace the billion-dollar box office. But it’s impossible to know if Deadpool and similar will degrade one of Disney’s differentiating brand elements. It’s competitors like Universal and Six Flags also appeal to families, but are often known as places more for teens and older children. It will interesting to watch if that difference degrades over time.


Topics: Disney in the News, Leveraging Intellectual Property

References

[1] https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/film/deadpool-and-wolverine-marvel-disney-r-rating-shawn-levy-018945e0?st=cv4yvpmob7emj3r&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

[2] https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt6263850/rankings/

[3] https://www.wsj.com/articles/disney-shows-first-r-rated-movies-on-disney-11658660401?st=pj1xpqg7t3cn17k&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

[4] https://www.wsj.com/business/media/disneys-blockbusters-cant-smooth-parks-rough-ride-e5717981?st=4kwp6tekbdhig5h&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

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