'Deadpool 2' Lands June 2018 Release Date

Fox stakes out a slew of other release dates, including for Steven Spielberg's Pentagon Papers film, two more superhero movies and Steve McQueen's 'Widows.'

Deadpool 2 — one of Hollywood's most anticipated sequels — has booked a release date in theaters.

The follow-up to the groundbreaking and irreverent superhero 2016 film is set to hit the big screen June 1, 2018, Fox said early Saturday.

It was a busy morning for the studio, between dating Deadpool 2 and four Avatar sequels alongside a slew of other pics, including an upcoming Steven Spielberg film, Bryan Singer's Bohemian Rhapsody, two more Fox/Marvel movies, X-Men spinoff New Mutants and sequel Dark Phoenix, and Steve McQueen's female-heist pic, Widows.

Ryan Reynolds once again stars as the titular superhero in Deadpool 2. The film series is a passion project for the actor, who spent years trying to get the first Deadpool made.

Reynolds, a producer on the films, also played a key role in the award-winning marketing campaign for Deadpool. The movie, released in February 2016, was a sleeper hit, earning $783 million worldwide to become the top-grossing R-rated film of all time.

The follow-up reunites Reynolds with Deadpool scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, with Drew Goddard assisting on the script as well. This time, David Leitch is in the director's chair instead of Tim Miller.

Newcomers to Deadpool 2 include Zazie Beetz as Domino and Josh Brolin as Cable. Shooting is set to begin in June.

Next year is going to be jam-packed in terms of Fox superhero titles: New Mutants will open April 13, 2018, while Dark Phoenix hits cinemas on Nov. 2. New Mutants, directed by Josh Boone, follows a young team of superheroes, while Dark Phoenix will revisit a classic comic book storyline that saw Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) become the host for the Phoenix Force, a cosmic entity that eventually drives her to becoming a destructive force that ultimately leads to her death. Longtime X-Men writer and producer Simon Kinberg is a top contender to direct the project, which is a follow-up to 2016's X-Men: Apocalypse.

In terms of awards contenders, Fox has dated Steven Spielberg's Washington Post/Pentagon Papers film, starring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, for limited release on Dec. 22 of this year. The as-yet untitled drama will expand nationwide on Jan. 12, 2018.

Looking to next year, McQueen's Widows is also a potential awards contender, and will open in theaters on Nov. 16, 2018.

Also in the fourth quarter of 2018, Singer's Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody has been given the high-profile release date of Dec. 25.

Fox also made a number of tweaks to its release calendar, including moving up Murder on the Orient Express from Nov. 22 of this year to Nov. 10, and pushing back the release of Jennifer Lawrence's The Red Sparrow from Nov. 10 to March 2, 2018, and The Predator from Feb. 9, 2018, to Aug. 3.