Deadpool 2 destroys Avengers

Brianna Hildebrand stars as Negasonic Teenage Warhead in 20th Century Fox’s Deadpool 2. It came in first at last weekend’s box office and made about $125.5 million.
Brianna Hildebrand stars as Negasonic Teenage Warhead in 20th Century Fox’s Deadpool 2. It came in first at last weekend’s box office and made about $125.5 million.

LOS ANGELES -- Deadpool and his foul-mouthed crew of misfits and malcontents have taken down the Avengers.

20th Century Fox's Deadpool 2 brought in $125.5 million last weekend, giving it the second-highest opening ever for an R-rated movie and ending the three-week reign of Disney's Avengers: Infinity War at the top of the North American box office, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The film grossed $176.3 million internationally and opened better overseas than the first, especially finding audiences in Latin America.

Deadpool 2 follows the proudly foul formula of the first, mixing the usual superhero set pieces with gore, gross-out jokes, '80s power ballads and frequent fourth-wall violations.

The box office of the second film suggests that formula can become a long-term franchise, and builds its possibilities with the addition of antihero teammates from Marvel Comics for the title character, including Josh Brolin's Cable and Zazie Beetz's Domino.

Along with the earnings and acclaim for last year's R-rated Logan, Fox has made itself the early leader in the burgeoning subgenre.

"The R-rating may be restrictive in terms of the audience make-up, but it's certainly not restrictive in the creative freedom it offers, so when movies like these hit, they can hit big," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for comScore.

"There is a place for the R rating. In the superhero genre it offers endless and really cool possibilities."

Deadpool 2 next faces off with Solo, but the two films along with the still-earning Avengers ought to make for a major Memorial Day for the industry.

The Avengers are hardly hurting. Disney and Marvel's Avengers: Infinity War brought in about $29.4 million in North America for a four-week take of about $596 million domestically and $1.2 billion overseas. It's now the fifth highest grossing film of all time worldwide.

In a whole different corner of the cinematic universe, Book Club was third with about $13.6 million, which exceeded expectations.

It was a successful piece of counter-programming for Paramount, which used the modestly budgeted comedy starring Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Mary Steenburgen and Candice Bergen to find mature audiences and women while Deadpool 2 dwelled overwhelmingly on teenagers and young men.

In fourth place, Warner Bros.' Life of the Party added $7.6 million in its second weekend in theaters, for about $31 million in ticket sales.

Rounding out the top five, Universal's Breaking In drew about $7 million in its second weekend, for a to-date total of about $29 million.

Also new this week, Global Road Entertainment's Show Dogs came in at No. 6 with about $6 million in earnings.

A PG-rated canine comedy, Show Dogs follows a Rottweiler who goes on an undercover police mission at a fancy dog show. The film earned an A-minus rating on CinemaScore and a 26 percent rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by comScore:

  1. Deadpool 2, 20th Century Fox, $125,507,153, 4,349 locations, $28,859 average, $125,507,153, 1 week.

  2. Avengers: Infinity War, Disney, $29,452,903, 4,002 locations, $7,360 average, $595,813,862, 4 weeks.

  3. Book Club, Paramount, $13,582,231, 2,781 locations, $4,884 average, $13,582,231, 1 week.

  4. Life of the Party, Warner Bros., $7,603,850, 3,656 locations, $2,080 average, $30,915,357, 2 weeks.

  5. Breaking In, Universal, $6,826,385, 2,537 locations, $2,691 average, $29,106,095, 2 weeks.

  6. Show Dogs, Open Road, $6,023,972, 3,212 locations, $1,875 average, $6,023,972, 1 week.

  7. Overboard, Lionsgate, $4,625,858, 1,820 locations, $2,542 average, $36,874,428, 3 weeks.

  8. A Quiet Place, Paramount, $3,944,442, 2,327 locations, $1,695 average, $176,080,755, 7 weeks.

  9. Rampage, Warner Bros., $1,577,260, 1,466 locations, $1,076 average, $92,500,589, 6 weeks.

  10. I Feel Pretty, STX Entertainment, $1,265,813, 1,505 locations, $841 average, $46,604,270, 5 weeks.

  11. RBG, Magnolia Pictures, $1,252,920, 378 locations, $3,315 average, $3,853,686, 3 weeks.

  12. Super Troopers 2, 20th Century Fox, $1,216,470, 478 locations, $2,545 average, $29,028,826, 5 weeks.

  13. Black Panther, Disney, $860,442, 935 locations, $920 average, $697,822,227, 14 weeks.

  14. Tully, Focus Features, $560,020, 670 locations, $836 average, $8,430,545, 3 weeks.

  15. Raazi, Zee Studios International, $551,201, 123 locations, $4,481 average, $1,846,376, 2 weeks.

  16. Disobedience, Bleecker Street, $521,915, 247 locations, $2,113 average, $1,901,655, 4 weeks.

  17. Pope Francis -- A Man of His Word, Focus Features, $507,870, 346 locations, $1,468 average, $507,870, 1 week.

  18. Blockers, Universal, $462,580, 439 locations, $1,054 average, $59,038,055, 7 weeks.

  19. Ready Player One, Warner Bros., $365,484, 388 locations, $942 average, $135,292,094, 8 weeks.

  20. Isle of Dogs, Fox Searchlight, $344,866, 288 locations, $1,197 average, $30,743,143, 9 weeks.

MovieStyle on 05/25/2018

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