An exhausted Ryan Reynolds was overwhelmed when the opening day receipts came in on July 26 for Deadpool and Wolverinethe third installment in his bold superhero series. On July 27, the impossible was within reach: The Marvel Studios film was set to break the $200 million mark in its U.S. debut, something no one thought possible for an R-rated film. The final figure came in at a staggering $211 million, the sixth-biggest opening of all time and $79 million more than the previous R-rated record holder, 2016’s Dead Pool.

“I have been involved in some form or another with writing, producing, performing, editing and marketing Deadpool and Wolverine for three years. I would say it is hard work – but it is more of an obsession,” said Reynolds The Hollywood Reporter after returning from a whirlwind worldwide promotional tour with his best friends, co-star Hugh Jackman and director Shawn Levy.

Deadpool and Wolverine is the latest in a string of surprise summer box office mega-successes, reversing a downward spiral from the first half of the year that was largely due to a lack of stable productions in the wake of Hollywood’s historic labor strikes in 2023. To put it in Deadpool’s vulgar jargon, summer box office receipts were less than stellar when the season officially kicked off in early May. Domestic box office receipts fell nearly 28 percent in the second quarter — the main cause being April and May — sparking renewed worries that moviegoers would never recover from COVID and the rise of streaming. (At the start of the summer season, studios estimated that as many as 15 percent of moviegoers who once frequented multiplexes and arthouse theaters never returned to theaters.)

But then June Gloom transformed into June Bloom, which continues to deliver lush bouquets. Sony’s Bad Boys: Ride or Diethe reunion of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, laid the foundation for the recovery in early June before Pixar’s Inside Out 2 came and proved to be just what the kids needed to get up off the couch. Illumination and Universal’s Despicable Me 4 also exceeded expectations, as did Amblin’s Twisters and Neon’s horror picture Long legswho won the Oscar parasite to become the independent distributor’s highest-grossing film of all time. So much for “The sky is falling for the cinema”.

Marvel Studios’ Deadpool and Wolverine was indeed the icing on the cake, setting off a fireworks display of epic proportions that broke one record after another. Over the weekend of August 2-4, the film grossed another $96.8 million, the eighth-biggest second weekend of all time, bringing its domestic total to $395.4 million, enough to finally fulfill Reynolds’ goal of equaling Mel Gibson’s The Passion of Christ and became the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time domestically. Worldwide, it reached $824.2 million on August 4 and is preparing to enter the billion-dollar club on the weekend of August 9-11. It currently sits at number 3 on the list of highest-grossing R-rated films at the worldwide box office and will easily rise to number 1 once it Oppenheimer (975.3 million US dollars) and then joker (US$1.07 billion).

As of August 4, the deficit in domestic box office revenues had fallen to 16.4 percent compared to the previous year, which was a win for the industry as a whole and the Disney film empire in particular. Just like Marvel’s Deadpool and Wolverine has revitalized the superhero genre, as has Pixar’s Inside Out 2 noted that the renowned animation studio is getting back on track after a series of stumbling blocks.

And in combination with Universal and Illumination Despicable Me 4, Inside Out 2 has revived the ailing family finances. Not to mention that Inside Out 2 made history by grossing $1.55 billion worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing animated film of all time. “We had a great summer,” said Alan Bergman, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment. “And that confirms that if you deliver quality films, audiences are happy to go to the movies. As we look at our future slate, we are encouraged by the momentum we have and hope it continues for the entire industry.”

Disney is back on top in terms of market share – it has surpassed the $3 billion mark in worldwide ticket sales – and will likely be the only studio to earn two billion dollars in a row this year. Disney and 20th Century’s Planet of the Apes: Kingdom was also a surprise success and, with $171 million at the domestic box office, was by far the most successful film of May.

Normally a Marvel superhero film opens the summer season, but Deadpool and Wolverine had to postpone its release date when production was halted due to the actors’ strike, so A Colt for all occasions took the prominent place. Unfortunately, the film failed to impress cinemagoers and reached 92.9 million dollars domestically and 178.1 million dollars worldwide. George Miller’s prominent Furiosa: A Mad Max Sagafrom Warner Bros., ran out of steam when it opened on Memorial Day, grossing just $67.4 million in North America over the three-day holiday weekend and a whopping $172 million worldwide.

Then Bad Boys: Ride or Die was released on June 7 and rose to $193 million domestically and $424.5 million worldwide. Paramount’s A quiet place: day onewhich also performed above average, grossing $137 million in North America and $256 million worldwide, helped to keep the momentum going. Although it never reached No. 1 – instead Inside Out 2 stayed at the top of the charts for three weekends, offering consumers another choice.

July saw a dramatic rebound at the box office, thanks to a steady supply of blockbusters and other event films that combined to deliver strong box office results week after week.

Everyone was horrified at how the second half of July 2024 would compare to July 2023 because Barbie And Oppenheimer. It was not as bad as everyone had feared, thanks to the continued strength of the remnants and the entry of Twisterswith contemporary stars Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones. TwistersDistributed domestically by Universal, grossed $81 million over the weekend of July 17-19, with the total for all films coming in at $150.4 million, down 51.7 percent from the corresponding weekend last year when Barbenheimer was released. The decline could have been much worse.

Both Twisters And Despicable Me 4 remain the champions, grossing $274.1 million worldwide – including an incredible $195 million domestically – and $745.6 million worldwide.

Another achievement: The weekend of July 26 to 28 — Deadpool 3‘s launch pad – was actually on the second weekend of the Barbie And Oppenheimer. A total of $1.2 billion in domestic ticket sales were generated in July, the first time that mark has been reached since July 2023. And Dead Pool helped total ticket sales rise to $418 million in the first week (July 26 to August 1), the highest-grossing week of the year.

Total revenues in summer 2023 were around $4 billion. This summer, those numbers are not expected to be reached, but if revenues remain stable, event films like 20th Century and Disney’s Alien: Romulus and Sony’s It ends with usstarring Blake Lively – revenue could reach $3.6 billion, a respectable figure considering May was a flop and the summer box office season didn’t begin until June.

“One of the most remarkable summer seasons ever is in the home stretch, and there is much to be learned from the emotional highs and lows of the box office that have captivated industry observers since the first weekend in May,” said Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “This has arguably been a more interesting, challenging and insightful summer than last year, regardless of how the Labor Day numbers turn out.”

A version of this story appeared in the Aug. 7 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.