Sherwood News

There's another blockbuster in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Deadpool & Wolverine is breaking box office records

7/29/24 11:25AM

Deadpool & Wolverine smashed box office expectations this weekend, taking $211 million in North America alone and scooping several records along the way. Indeed, the latest Marvel movie posted the 8th biggest opening weekend of all time, dethroned Despicable Me 4 to become the top debut of 2024 so far, and saw the highest-grossing first weekend for an R-rated movie in history.

As anyone who’s kept a vague eye on the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the last few years could likely guess, the plot synopsis of this latest movie might be a little too meta and self-referential to neatly unpack here… but it’s fair to say that Marvel’s decision to actively engage with its sprawling legacy in the latest Deadpool installment has seriously paid off, with the film taking almost $440 million worldwide in its first 3 days.

For the fans

While it may not always curry favor with movie buffs and critics, the Disney-owned studio’s conscious effort to put not only the Deadpool threequel, but many of its other movies and shows in direct conversation with earlier content via in-jokes, easter eggs, and cameos makes a lot of commercial sense — especially given its growing lead as the biggest franchise of all time.

Since Iron Man first hit silver screens in 2008, the MCU has morphed into a blockbuster beast, pumping out 34 films in 16 years that have accrued a total global box office gross of more than $30 billion, as of this weekend. Even at the domestic box office, the latest Deadpool offering saw the franchise soar even further ahead of iconic, decades-spanning movie series like Star Wars and James Bond.

Tom Jones

big deal

6/15/26

Lionsgate persists with decade-long effort to make a “Monopoly” movie

America’s favorite board game is proving a tricky subject for a feature film.

Daily Life in New York City Around The One-year Anniversary of The COVID-19 Shut Down

Tom Jones6/9/26

The BBC has become the world’s top news website... by collapsing a little less than its competition

Press Gazette just published its annual look at the biggest news sites in the world across all languages; for the most part, it doesn’t make for particularly pretty reading.

The journalism industry publication’s latest update, which is based on estimates provided by Similarweb for May, found that 37 of the world’s 50 most visited news sites saw their reach shrink. Press Gazette highlighted that American outlets have been hit particularly hard by declining Google traffic compared to European counterparts, owing to the platform’s AI features rolling out earlier in the US.

Even the BBC, having climbed the rankings from last year to top the 2026 chart — reportedly in part thanks to Similarweb’s decision to combine the “.co.uk” and “.com” versions of the URL, given that the sites redirect to each other depending on the user’s location — showed a 1.9% decline from last year.

Millie Giles

PLAY THE BILLS

6/8/26

Last night’s Tony Awards were a curtain call for a record-smashing season on Broadway

This year’s star-studded theater awards wrapped up the highest-grossing season Broadway’s ever seen.

Millie Giles

SOUND FAMILIAR?

6/5/26

Kids these days are listening to more songs from the good old days

Music nostalgia is in full swing, and the younger listeners of today appear to be partying like it’s pre-1999.

Saleah Blancaflor6/4/26

Drake whiffs on an expected No. 1 on Spotify

Drake started at the bottom and he’s here, but not quite at the top... of Spotify, at least.

It’s been nearly three weeks since Drake dropped his three surprise albums — “Iceman,” “Habibti,” and “Maid of Honour.” Heading into the month, prediction markets were rating it a near certainty, a 98% chance, that Drake’s sonic onslaught was enough to snag the No. 1 slot on Spotify at least once in June.

But, while he surpassed the late Michael Jackson and took up three slots on the Billboard album chart at once, his newly released songs haven’t quite cracked the popular music-streaming platform’s top charts, and market seem to think the moment has passed.

(Event contracts are offered through Robinhood Derivatives, LLC — probabilities referenced or sourced from KalshiEx LLC or ForecastEx LLC.)

Spotify’s “Top Songs - Global” chart currently show that Jackson’s “Billie Jean,” which is more than four decades old, Justin Bieber’s “Beauty and a Beat,” which climbed back to the top of Spotify charts following his Coachella set in the spring, Olivia Rodrigo’s new angsty love song “The Cure,” and BTS’s “Swim” are all ahead of Drake’s “STFU Janice” from his “Iceman” album.

While Spotify previously reported last month that Drake’s “Make Them Cry” was the most streamed album in a single day this year, that was later revealed to be a data error.

Prediction markets currently show traders are betting there’s only a 15% chance Drake will have a No. 1 song on Spotify in June.

Meanwhile, Taylor Swift is in the lead at 98% — a day before the release of her new original song “I Knew It, I Knew You,” which she wrote and performed for Disney and Pixar’s upcoming “Toy Story 5” — followed by Olivia Rodrigo, whose highly anticipated album “You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love” comes out next Friday.