As expected, Ryan Reynolds and Marvel climbed to the top with their risk-taking superhero pic Deadpool. But the rare R-rated comic book adaptation had an even more massive start than expected, pulling in a huge $132.4 million over the three-day stretch, and an even more unbelievable $152.2 million pick-up through Monday (averaging a huge $42,775 for the four-day stretch from 3,558 locations). That ranked as the 17th biggest opening weekend in history, and smashed Fifty Shades of Grey's $93 million 4-day start from last year to claim the biggest February opening of all-time. As far as superhero movies are concerned in general, Deadpool only trails both Avengers films, both Dark Knight films, Iron Man 3 and Spider-Man 3 in terms of opening weekends, and second to the first Avengers among non-sequels. It also had the third-biggest pre-Summer opening ever behind The Avengers, The Hunger Games and Furious 7. Most importantly, Deadpool beat Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith's $108 million debut from 2005 to become the largest unadjusted opening ever in the history of distributor 20th Century Fox.
So why did this open so big? With the odd release date (superhero movies release in the summer typically), and the R rating holding back younger audiences, I thought this would be held back from a $100 million start. But, fans apparently have been clamoring for a movie like this. Deadpool had a strong, creative marketing campaign and had massive buzz from the past 7-8 months (it only trailed Star Wars: The Force Awakens among all films' buzz in the past year). This opening also is a major coup for Ryan Reynolds, as he had been struggling in recent years, most notably with another superhero flick, Green Lantern in 2011.
Reviews were strong for the Merc with a Mouth (83% on Rotten Tomatoes), while the CinemaScore was an "A" and majority of the scores on Flixster rated it as "excellent". That kind of word-of-mouth could allow Deadpool to play strong until Batman v. Superman enters the marketplace on March 25. There is hardly any major action or R-rated comedy competition for the rest of February or in the month of March for that matter.
Overseas numbers were huge too, with $125 million from 61 markets, including a strong opening in the U.K. and the biggest opening weekend of all-time in Russia. In its worldwide launch, Deadpool has earned a truly stunning $277 million, ranking in the Top 20 all-time in that department as well. It's opened in majority of its territories, however, it will not play in China due to being banned for explicit content. That will be a bit of a major blow to its worldwide tally, which is still expected to go well past $500 million (if not $600 million). Distributor Fox was projecting a $60-65 million 4-day start, while the budget was only $58 million on this one.
Fox had the #1 and #2 movie in America as family audiences caught up with Po and the Furious Five. Kung Fu Panda 3 was off just 7% to $19.8 million over the three-day weekend, and $25.9 million over the extended frame. With the Super Bowl sucking up a lot of attention last weekend, families were more available, and there were no new films added for them also. In the process, Kung Fu Panda 3 passed $100 million on Monday (its at $100.2 million in 18 days), and the second movie of the year (one day behind Deadpool) to pass the century mark. Its still trailing Kung Fu Panda 2 through the same point (that one had $126 million by the end of its third weekend), but that one earned $16.5 million in its third weekend. Panda 3 continues to do strong in China, with $125 million picked up there so far.
Meanwhile, opening in third place with decent results is romantic comedy How to Be Single. The Dakota Johnson and Rebel Wilson flick opened to $17.9 million over the three-day and $19.9 million over the four-day stretch (averaging $5,954 for the extended frame from 3,343 locations). In the face of a $38 million budget, that's a good start. However, it did collapse 70% Sunday-to-Monday (obviously due to the passing of Valentine's Day). Reviews were mixed (49% on Rotten Tomatoes), while the CinemaScore was a "B". I'm not sure how this will hold from here, but it did earn $8 million overseas. Distributor Warner Bros. was expecting around $20 million for the four-day weekend.
Finally, Zoolander No. 2 underwhelmed in the face of competition. Ben Stiller's directed sequel only managed $13.8 million over the three-day weekend, and $15.9 million over the four-day ($4,679 per-venue average from 3,394 locations). That was less than expected, as distributor Paramount was hoping for a $20-25 million 4-day start. In comparison, the first Zoolander opened to $15.5 million over its opening weekend in 2001 (which obviously adjusts to a much bigger number adjusted for ticket price inflation). With negative reviews (22% on Rotten Tomatoes) and a "C+" CinemaScore, this will probably fade quickly. The budget for this one was $50 million.5th, 6th and 7th places were shifted from the 3-day to the 4-day. Judging for the 4-day, Star Wars: The Force Awakens continued to hold strong in its ninth weekend (7th place for the 3-day), off just 12% over the traditional weekend to $6.2 million ($7.64 million for the 4-day). The smash hit blockbuster has earned $916.3 million since its' opening 64 days ago, and $2.026 billion worldwide. The Force Awakens will likely challenge Snow White and the Seven Dwarves' $938 million adjusted-for-inflation gross to break into the Top 10 biggest ticket-sellers ever in movie history.
The Revenant was close behind with a 6% dip to $6.5 million (fifth place over the 3-day), and $7.58 million over the extended frame, for a terrific $159.8 million gross in 57 days. There's a chance this could come close to $200 million domestically if it wins Best Picture at the Oscars. Worldwide, Alejandro G. Innaritu's flick has earned $360 million and counting.
Last weekend's opener Hail, Caesar! (I saw it on Saturday, look for a review by the end of this week), on the other hand, didn't hold very well. The Coen Brothers' latest was down 44% over the three-day (where it was in sixth place) to $6.4 million ($7.4 million four-day), for a $22.1 million pick-up in 11 days, matching its budget. This one could wind up around $40 million stateside, ending in line with lower-grossing efforts from the brothers such as The Ladykillers and Intolerable Cruelty.
The Choice had a solid Valentine's Day frame, off just 14% over the three-day weekend to $5.2 million ($5.8 million 4-day), for a still not very impressive $13.8 million gross in 11 days. Look for this to fade fast after this weekend, on its way to a finish just north of $20 million. Ride Along 2 wasn't far behind, off a scant 2% for the 3-day to $4.4 million ($5.1 million 4-day). Kevin Hart and Ice Cube's sequel has earned a very solid $83.6 million gross in one month of release, and should find its way to a finish between $90 and $95 million. Not bad.
Horror flick The Boy rounded out the Top 10 with a 23% decline over the three-day to $3.1 million ($3.6 million over the 4-day), for a very solid $31.4 million pick-up in 25 days. Next weekend will bring competition from The Witch, but it should still wind up above $35 million stateside.
Next weekend will bring Biblical epic Risen, horror flick The Witch and Jesse Owens biopic Race into the box office arena. They all should be fairly close. Who will wind up on top? We shall see what we shall find.
