Weekend Box Office: 'Deadpool 2' Topples 'Infinity War' With $125M US Bow, $301M Globally

The sequel doesn’t match the opening of the first ‘Deadpool’ in the U.S., but launches to a record $176 million overseas; the adult-skewing ‘Book Club’ opens to $12.5 million, while ‘Show Dogs’ falters.

Superheroes continued to dominate the box office as Ryan Reynolds and 20th Century Fox’s Deadpool 2 debuted to $125 million domestically and $301 million globally after scoring the biggest foreign debut in history for an R-rated title.

After falling off more than expected on Saturday, the sequel couldn’t match the North American debut of the first Deadpool, which opened to $132.4 million in February 2016, the best showing in history for an R-rated title. Nevertheless, Deadpool 2 still scored the third-best domestic opening of the year to date behind fellow superhero tentpoles Avengers: Infinity War and Black Panther, as well as the No. 2 launch ever for an R-rated film.

Overseas, Deadpool 2 rocketed to $176 million, Fox’s biggest opening of all time internationally — and that’s without China, where the film doesn’t yet have a release date. X-Men: Days of Future Past was the previous Fox champ ($174 million), while Fox’s Logan had been the record holder for biggest R-rated foreign bow for any movie ($160 million).

Deadpool 2 — hitting theaters as the Fox film empire prepares for the Disney/21st Century Fox merger — easily toppled superhero mashup Infinity War from the top spot. Infinity War was no slouch, however, grossing $28.7 million in its fourth weekend to finish Sunday with a North American total of $585 million.

Overseas, the Disney and Marvel Studios’ blockbuster earned another $84.4 million, fueled by a $53.7 million from China, for a foreign title of $1.218 billion and global haul of $1.813 billion. Paramount’s hit horror film A Quiet Place also made noise in China with an $18.8 million launch, bringing that film’s global total to $296.5 million.

Thanks in large part to the strength of the two superhero titles, domestic revenue was up a staggering 64 percent over the same weekend last year, when new openers included Alien: Covenant.

Playing in a total of 4,349 theaters in North America — the widest release in Fox history — Deadpool 2 was frontloaded. It earned a massive $18.6 million in Thursday-evening previews, followed by a $53 million Friday, the top opening day for an R-rated movie. Like Deadpool, the sequel earned an A CinemaScore from audiences.

Deadpool 2, directed by David Leitch, follows the irreverent Deadpool (Reynolds) as he forms an X-Force posse in hopes of stopping the evil Cable (Josh Brolin). Morena Baccarin, Julian Dennison, Zazie Beetz, T.J. Miller, Brianna Hildebrand and Jack Kesy co-star. Reynolds produced the sequel and co-wrote the script with his Deadpool collaborators Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick.

Infinity War came in No. 2, followed by Paramount’s adult-skewing, female-fronted Book Club in third place with $12.5 million from 2,781 theaters, slightly ahead of expectations.

Directed by Bill Holderman, Book Club stars Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen as four friends who decide to read Fifty Shades of Grey with unintended consequences. Craig T. Nelson, Andy Garcia and Don Johnson play the love interests.

The third new nationwide offering of the weekend, Show Dogs, couldn’t quite find its bark. The family film opened in sixth place with $6 million from 3,145 cinemas.

Rated PG, the Global Road pic chronicles the adventures of a Rottweiler police dog (voiced by Chris “Ludacris” Bridges) that infiltrates a prestigious dog show with the help of his human partner (Will Arnett). Other cast members include Natasha Lyonne, Jordin Sparks, Gabriel Iglesias, Shaquille O’Neal and Alan Cumming.

Both Book Club and Show Dogs earned an A- CinemaScore.

New openings at the specialty box office included A24’s First Reformed, directed by Paul Scrhader. The critically acclaimed film stars Ethan Hawke as a troubled pastor and Amanda Seyfried as a parishioner who comes to him for help.

Opening in four locations, First Reformed posted a solid per screen average of roughly $25,067 upon grossing $100,270.

Days after its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, Focus Features’ documentary Pope Francis — A Man of His Word debuted in 346 cinemas in select markets across the U.S., grossing $480,000 for a per screen average of $1,369.

That wasn’t enough to match another doc about a revered public figure — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. RBG earned $1.3 million from 375 cinemas in its third outing for a domestic total of $3.9 million. Magnolia and Participant Media partnered on the film’s release.

A 70mm cut of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey scored the top location average of any film in a special engagement in four theaters. The special 50th anniversary engagement, engineered by Warner Bros. with the help of Christopher Nolan, grossed $200,000 for a screen average of $50,000.

May 20, 8:30 p.m. Updated with foreign grosses.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)