“Deadpool” Rules Over Newbies at Box Office

By Kip Mooney • On • In News News 0

BOX OFFICE REPORT

February 26 - 28

(estimates from BoxOfficeMojo.com)

TOP 5

Deadpool ($31.5)
Gods of Egypt ($14.0)
Kung Fu Panda 3 ($9.0)
Risen ($7.0)
Eddie the Eagle ($6.3)

Deadpool would like to make it three in a row. In its third weekend, the antics of red-suited antihero made an estimated $31.5 million, blowing away all the competition yet again. It’s now at $285 million, and should have $300 million in the bank before next weekend, where it may win yet again.

 

The expensive-looking yet critically reviled Gods of Egypt took second place, making only a tenth of its massive budget. Director Alex Proyas wrote a pretty nasty open letter, taking critics to task for bad-mouthing his movie. But as most anyone will tell you, bad reviews often don’t mean a bad opening. Just ask anyone who worked on a Transformers movie.

 

Kung Fu Panda 3 continued to hold well, despite making hardly any money. (Well, at least in theaters. I’m sure they’ve sold a lot of plush panda bears.) Risen didn’t go any higher in its second weekend, falling a spot and shedding nearly 40 percent of what it made in its debut. But that was still more than the inspirational sports movie Eddie the Eagle made. The tale of the UK’s first Olympic ski jumper couldn’t even get the bronze. It made just $6.3 million.

 

Outside the top 5:

  • This Weekend's Indie Champ: You can’t keep a good movie down, even for a second weekend. Sony upped the theater count for Stephen Chow’s The Mermaid, which outgrossed Star Wars four-to-one in China. This time it only made $8,766 per screen.
  • Triple 9 had to settle for sixth place. The crime thriller boasted a great cast, but couldn’t translate that into a big steal. It only took in $6.1 million.
  • For the first time since its release, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is out of the top 10. The behemoth fell to 11th place, but still made $3 million this weekend (its 11th), more than Zoolander 2 made in its third weekend.

Next Week:

Deadpool might finally give up the top spot. London Has Fallen will battle Disney’s Zootopia, with Tina Fey’s Whiskey Tango Foxtrot settling for fourth place. I’m guessing the scene will play out similar to when Olympus Has Fallen opened against The Croods three years ago: the animated film opens around $40 million, while the R-rated action flick takes second with around $30 million, and the former champ slips to third with around $20 million. And then the Tina Fey movie struggles to make $10 million.

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About Kip Mooney

Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.

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