Twentieth Century Fox’s superhero movie, Deadpool, dominated the Valentine’s Day/Presidents Day weekend box office with a record breaking $135 million debut from 3,558 theaters.
The Marvel-branded film shattered all expectations – surpassing 2003’s The Matrix ($91.8 million) to becoming the biggest R-rated opening, as well as becoming the biggest February weekend and biggest President’s Day four-day weekend debut (beating 2015’s Fifty Shades of Grey, which opened with $93 million).
Deadpool follows Wade Wilson (played by Ryan Reynolds), a former mercenary who is given special powers after undergoing an experimental treatment for cancer, where he then adopts his alter ego Deadpool. Armed with his new abilities and a dark, twisted sense of humor, he hunts down the man who nearly destroyed his life. Reynolds first appeared as the character in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
“Deadpool just kept going up and up. Obliterating expectations just doesn’t cover this,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for comScore tracking service. “And rather than hurting, the R-rating actually helped. It made the film an edgy, must-see superhero event.”
Audience members gave the film an A CinemaScore, with critics also favoring the film with an 84 percent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
In second place for the weekend is Jack Black’s family-friendly holdover Kung Fu Panda 3, with $19.6 million ($100.3 million domestic total).
The other weekend newcomers included Warner Bros.’ How To Be Single and Paramount’s Zoolander 2.
How To Be Single debuted with $18.8 million from 3,343 locations for a third place finish. The story of New Yorkers dealing with single life, which brought in largely female crowds, scored a low 47 percent “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and a B on CinemaScore from moviegoers. The comedy stars Rebel Wilson, Dakota Johnson, Alison Brie and Leslie Mann.
HOW TO BE SINGLE: Backstage with Alison Brie & Anders Holm
Following in fourth place is Zoolander 2 with a disappointing $15.7 million from 3,394 locations. The film revisits male model Derek Zoolander (played by Ben Stiller) more than a decade after strutting down the runway in the original. The comedy sequel, which also brought back stars Will Ferrell and Owen Wilson, received a 23 percent “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and a C-plus CinemaScore from moviegoers.
“There wasn’t any room in the media or the national conversation for anything other than Deadpool,” said Jeff Bock, box office analyst for Exhibitor Relations.
Rounding out the top five is Leonardo DiCaprio’s The Revenant with $6.9 million for the three-day weekend. Thus far, the film has accumulated $160.4 million since debuting in December.
Top 10 Films at Weekend Box Office: February 12-14
- Deadpool — $135 million
- Kung Fu Panda 3 — $19.65 million
- How To Be Single — $18.75 million
- Zoolander 2 — $15.65 million
- The Revenant — $6.9 million
- Hail, Caesar! — $6.6 million
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens — $6.2 million
- The Choice — $5.3 million
- Ride Along 2 — $4.1 million
- The Boy — $2.9 million
