Box Office: Deadpool Breaks The Fourth Wall And Records With $135M Opening

Box Office, Columns, News

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Upon seeing what Deadpool did to the rest of the competition this Valentine’s Day weekend I bet Zoolander 2 feels like the whole box office tastes like Mama June after hot yoga. That’s how dominate the “Merc with a Mouth” was at theaters around the U.S. Audiences, just like the anti-hero himself, wouldn’t shut up talking about Deadpool. Not only did it shatter the record for an R-rated film opening Thursday night (where it netted $12.7M), it would totally obliterate the opening record for an R-rated movie period. A record that stood for nearly 13 years when The Matrix Reloaded opened to the tune of $91.7 million in May 2003.

Ryan Reynolds isn’t a movie star by any stretch of the imagination, with more misses than hits on his resume, but he’s charismatic and cocksure and he was perfectly cast as Wade Wilson/Deadpool for 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine. He was the only bright spot in a bad, bad movie, but his being the highlight didn’t translate to his own spin-off. Reynolds would go through a pair of comic-book duds (Green Lantern, R.I.P.D.) and if it weren’t for some test footage that leaked online in 2014, a Deadpool movie may have never materialized.

Now that it has, the world has become a better place and is visual proof that dedication and a devil-may-care attitude to make the movie you want to make (and that fans of a comic-book character want to see) can be a success! The movie would make an estimated total of $135M, nearly $44 million more what The Matrix sequel did. The movie didn’t require any extra surcharges (unless you invested a little more to see it on a bigger screen with enhanced audio). There were no 3-D charges for this comic-book adventure. Not sure how audiences would have taken to a crotch shot to the face.

Ben Stiller gave the world another Zoolander, not that audiences were clamoring for more Derek and Hansel. The $50 million comedy opened in fourth place with $15.6 million. Fifteen years after the original opened the first weekend earnings are nearly identical this despite the sequel playing on nearly 900 more screens. It will struggle to meet the $45M Zoolander did. The other new release, How to Be Single, performed slightly better, taking the bronze with $18.75M. The comedy starring Dakota Johnson, Rebel Wilson and Leslie Mann was a modest hit with those females who weren’t in the mood to see a foul-mouthed superhero in red spandex, or a few shots of Ryan Reynolds sans shirt (or pants).

Despite losing 752 screens, The Revenant had the best audience holdover in its eighth week of release, only losing 0.6% on its way to a $6.9M weekend. Still a force with audiences is Star Wars: The Force Awakens. In nine weeks it has raked in $914.8M and that’s just in the U.S. Overseas, it has made $1.1 billion.

Hail, Caesar! dropped four places to finish No. 6 with $6.59 million. The Coen brothers comedy took a hit, but I feel older audiences will try to catch this in the coming weeks before its theater count is cut dramatically.

In limited release, Michael Moore’s new documentary Where to Invade Next opened on 308 screens and made a little more than $1 million.

Coming up this weekend we have Race, Risen and The Witch as the new releases. Don’t know anything about Risen and Race is the story of one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century, Jesse Owens. A24’s The Witch is a must-see if you prefer your horror with ample amounts of dread and atmosphere, not cheap scares or gore.

Look for Deadpool to continue his reign as box office king as audiences will take to his sloppy seconds this weekend.

Top 10 below.

01. Deadpool – $135 Million
02. Kung Fu Panda 3 – $19.65 Million ($93.9M)
03. How to Be Single – $18.75 Million
04. Zoolander 2 – $15.65 Million
05. The Revenant – $6.9 Million
06. Hail, Caesar! – $6.59 Million ($21.3M)
07. Star Wars: The Force Awakens – $6.1 Million ($914.8M)
08. The Choice – $5.25 Million ($13.2M)
09. Ride Along 2 – $4.1 Million ($82.6M)
10. The Boy – $2.9 Million ($30.7M)

Travis Leamons is one of the Inside Pulse Originals and currently holds the position of Managing Editor at Inside Pulse Movies. He's told that the position is his until he's dead or if "The Boss" can find somebody better. I expect the best and I give the best. Here's the beer. Here's the entertainment. Now have fun. That's an order!