Globally, Valentine’s Day is the day of love and romance. Normally, film releases also reflect that and some of the most popular and successful romantic comedies and dramas have released in the Valentine’s Week over the years. But despite blockbusters like Fifty Shades of Grey, Valentine’s Day, Hitch, and 50 First Dates riding on the V-Day wave, they were all beaten by a gory and irreverent action film, which remains the highest-grossing Valentine’s Week release. (Also read: World’s highest-grossing film series made $31 billion, more than Star Wars, Harry Potter, and James Bond combined)

The highest-grossing Valentine’s Day film of all time

The Marvel and Sony superhero film Deadpool is the highest-grossing film released on Valentine’s weekend. In 2016, the Ryan Reynolds-starrer was released in theatres on February 12, in the middle of Valentine’s Week. In its opening weekend, the R-rated superhero film grossed $132.2 million in North America and $132.4 million overseas, bringing its global opening weekend to $264 million, the highest ever. Its eventual global box office gross was an astounding $783 million.

Box Office Mojo ranks Deadpool as the top-grossing film released in Valentine’s week. In comparison, Fifty Shades of Grey earned $569 million, Will Smith’s Hitch made $371 million, Adam Sandler’s rom-com 50 First Dates made $198 million, and the multi-starrer drama He’s Just Not That Into You earned $178 million. Valentine’s Day, an anthology film, fared slightly better with a global haul of $216 million.

The legacy of Deadpool

Made on a budget of just $58 million, Deadpool revitalised the comic book character’s global popularity and pushed Ryan Reynolds firmly into Hollywood’s A-list. The sequel – Deadpool 2 – released in 2018, fared even better with a $785 million global haul. The third part – Deadpool & Wolverine – united Reynolds’ Deadpool with Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine and integrated the film into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It earned $1.34 billion worldwide.