'Deadpool' conquers box office for third weekend with $31.5M
Not even a bunch of gods could take down the monster momentum of the "Merc with a Mouth."
The comic-book film Deadpool notched a third straight week topping the box office by pulling in $31.5 million, according to studio estimates from comScore. Ryan Reynolds' wisecracking, well-armed antihero raised his total haul to $285.6 million domestically, passing The Matrix Reloaded to become the No. 3 all-time R-rated movie.
"Much like the hero in the movie, Deadpool just keeps dispatching its competition week after week," says comScore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "Studios have woken up to the fact that you can have a big hit in any month of the year.
"People will come out in droves if you have the right movie. The movie makes the date now, the date doesn't make the movie. It's a paradigm shift a long time in coming."
Review: The feel-good 'Eagle' has landed
Action film Gods of Egypt could only muster $14 million in its opening weekend, though it was the best debut of three new movies. It managed a middling B- grade from audiences on CinemaScore, but that was the good news: Critics savaged the film, which received a 13% “rotten” rating at review aggregate site RottenTomatoes.com.
"Lionsgate swung for the fences with this, and it's a competitive marketplace. What are you going to do?" says Dergarabedian.
The animated Kung Fu Panda 3 came in third place with $9 million, and the biblical drama Risen was fourth with $7 million.
The feel-good Eddie the Eagle, starring Taron Egerton as Olympic ski jumper Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards, was out of the medal race with $6.3 million. The fifth-place finisher was well-liked by moviegoers, however — it garnered an A on CinemaScore — and scored a decent 73% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Chiwetel Ejiofor explores 'moral gray' in 'Triple 9'
It was a passion project of sorts for stars Egerton and Hugh Jackman, Dergerabedian says. "I love the fact that Fox is supporting their talent. I bet you this movie will end up being profitable."
The weekend’s other opener, crime drama Triple 9, crashed and burned with only $6.1 million. Sporting an A-list cast including Chiwetel Ejiofor, Casey Affleck, Anthony Mackie, Woody Harrelson and Kate Winslet, it got a lowly C+ on CinemaScore and a 54% Rotten Tomatoes approval rating.
What might be most noteworthy about this weekend overall is 20th Century Fox's stranglehold on the box office, Dergarabedian says: In addition to Deadpool, Kung Fu Panda 3 and Eddie the Eagle, the studio's Oscar favorite The Revenant pulled in another $3.8 million to run its total to $170.5 million.
Final figures are expected Monday.