Outside of the US, Deadpool had another bumper weekend as well, with the film up to $256m.
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Worldwide the film has grossed more than $491 million, including opening to $12.1 million in South Korea and so far taking over $36.9 million in the UK.
In North America, The Witch placed No. 4 with $8.7 million from 2,046 theaters – the top opening in A24’s young history. The film has a stellar cast – including Tom Felton and Peter Firth – and is directed by veteran Kevin Reynolds (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, The Count of Monte Cristo) but it has been receiving mixed reviews.
Landing in second place and beating the three new releases was Fox and DreamWorks Animation’s holdover “Kung Fu Panda 3”. It’s the biggest opening weekend ever for a film released in February. Much like last week, a handful of other titles also debuted, but once again they had to settle for sloppy seconds as Deadpool brought in $55 million, bringing its domestic total to $235 million.
Fox produced Deadpool for the bargain price of $58 million, though the marketing budget will have added a considerable sum.
Our number one film of the weekend was never in doubt, as Deadpool easily bested all-comers in its second weekend.
The film’s self-awareness plays as one of its best assets, making fun of itself while also giving that occasion wink to the audience. Risen earned an A- CinemaScore, while The Witch garnered a C- (not unusual for a horror title). The last new movie to arrive, Race, crossed the finish line in a weak sixth place with $7 million.
Rounding out the rest of the top 10 were: – “Race”, $7.3 million – “Zoolander 2”, $5.5 million – “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, $3.84 million – “The Revenant”, $3.80 million – “Hail, Caesar!”. It dropped off only 36.6 percent from its previous weekend.
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Fans have been calling for an effective R-rated superhero film for decades now, and Marvel has finally answered their cries in a ideal heroic fashion that respects its source material. The biblical epic, which cost about $20 million to make, met analyst expectations of $10 million to $15 million with $11.8 million in ticket sales. The current top R-rated film in the USA and Canada is Mel Gibson’s 2004 The Passion of the Christ, with $370m; the best global mark is held by the Wachowski’s 2003 sci-fi sequel The Matrix Reloaded, with $742m.
