Deadpool Smashes Box Office Records On Way to $260 Million Worldwide Opening
by Brad Brevet
February 14, 2016


Blowing away even the most lofty of expectations, Deadpool decimated the Valentine's and President's Day weekend box office in record-breaking fashion with an estimated $135 million three-day weekend.

As for its incoming competition, How to be Single performed mostly as expected while fifteen years proved too long to wait to release Zoolander 2.







Rewriting the box office record books, Deadpool broke Fifty Shades of Grey's previous February opening weekend record by nearly $45 million based on estimates and that's just the start.

The largest opening for an R-rated film was previously $91.7 million, set by The Matrix Reloaded in 2003. That's been destroyed. The largest opening weekend for an R-rated comic book adaptation was previously set by 300 with $70.8 million. Bye, bye.

Right now Fox is estimating a $150 million four-day weekend while rival studios go as high as $156 million. In just its first two days Deadpool nearly broke the previous President's Day weekend record of $93 million set by Fifty Shades of Grey, so it already holds the overall record, now it's only a matter of how much will it end up making once Monday's official totals are revealed.







New Line and MGM's How to be Single is performing just a shade below expectations, bringing in an estimated $18.7 million for the three-day weekend and expected to finish with just over $20 million for the four-day.

The film didn't exactly score stellar reviews, but the "B" CinemaScore is decent enough to suggest it should have a so-so run, perhaps ending its domestic run around $50-60 million if it can hold on next weekend.

The film also brought in $8.1 million internationally this weekend.







Moving further down the chart we come to Zoolander 2, which opened with an estimated $15.6 million along with a "C+" CinemaScore with the target demo of 18-24 year-olds gave it a "B".

The lackluster opening is almost exactly the same as the $15.5 million opening for the first film, which went on to make just over $45 million back in 2001.

The first Zoolander dropped only 38.7% in its second weekend and if the sequel can manage something similar it may be able to top its predecessor, with an overall domestic run anywhere from $42-49 million seeming most likely at this point.







Also opening this weekend was Michael Moore's latest documentary, Where to Invade Next, which opened with an estimated $933,240 for a $3,030 per theater average.

Moore's ability to publicize the film was hindered as he fell ill with pneumonia and was in intensive care last week and home resting this week, just ahead of the film's release.







Looking at the weekend's holdovers, Kung Fu Panda 3 delivered with a stellar 7.5% drop, coming in second with an estimated $19.6 million. Fox is expecting a $26 million four-day as the film's domestic cume is now up to $93.9 million.

The Revenant edged out Hail, Caesar! for the fifth slot, bringing in an estimated $6.9 million as the Coens' latest dipped 42% for a $6.5 million second weekend.







This weekend also marked something of a milestone as Star Wars: The Force Awakens fell out of the weekend top five for the first time since releasing back on December 18.

The film took seventh place this weekend with an estimated $6.1 million as its domestic cume is now up to $914.8 million and its worldwide returns totaling more than $2.026 billion.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4157&p=.htm









February 12-14, 2016 Weekend Studio Estimates:


1. Deadpool $135,050,000
2. Kung Fu Panda 3 $19,650,000 / $93,912,387
3. How to Be Single $18,750,000
4. Zoolander 2 $15,650,000
5. The Revenant $6,900,000 / $159,164,599
6. Hail, Caesar! $6,590,000 / $21,354,970
7. Star Wars: The Force Awakens $6,194,000 / $914,838,964
8. The Choice $5,250,000 / $13,259,551
9. Ride Along 2 $4,130,000 / $82,661,235
10. The Boy $2,913,000 / $30,778,587

Deadpool Tops $490M Worldwide; Risen, Witch & Mermaid Open Strong
by Brad Brevet
February 21, 2016


Deadpool took #1 at the weekend box office once again in its second weekend of release, crossing $235 million domestically. But it wasn't a weekend all about the Merc with the Mouth as a pair of newcomers in Risen and The Witch had strong opening performances.

Additionally, Focus' Race finished its debut sprint with a sixth place finish and Sony saw an impressive limited opening for Stephen Chow's Chinese box office behemoth The Mermaid.







In first, Deadpool brought in an estimated $55 million in its second weekend, a 58.5% drop from last weekend, which is well within expectation as films that open over $100 million tend to drop, on average, 54.3%.

Deadpool, as it turns out, had a similar drop to the previous R-rated opening weekend champion, The Matrix Reloaded, which dropped 59.8% in its second weekend back in 2003. The film's drop, however, is much better than last year's Valentine's and President's Day weekend champ, Fifty Shades of Grey, which dropped a massive 73.9%.



Internationally, Deadpool took in an estimated $85 million, bringing its overseas cume to $256.5 million. Combined with its estimated $235.4 million domestic total, the film currently sits at $491.9 million in just under two weeks of release.

Domestically, Deadpool has now grossed more than any of the X-Men movies (not adjusted for inflation) and is only second to X-Men: Days of Future Past ($747.9m) worldwide.







The first of the weekend's new releases on the domestic chart is Sony's Risen, which brought in an estimated $11.8 million along with a solid "A-" CinemaScore.

The film should play well through March and into early April as it scored one of the biggest faith-based openings of all-time, placing seventh behind the likes of The Passion of the Christ, Son of God and Heaven is for Real as well as the three films in the Narnia trilogy.

The demographics of the audience were 53% female vs. 47% male with 70 percent 25 years of age and over.







Next we have The Witch, which delivered the best opening ever in A24's young history. The film delivered an estimated $8.68 million in its first three days from 2,046 theaters.

This is the widest opening for an A24 film by far, with Kevin Smith's Tusk previously owning that distinction, opening in 602 theaters. It's not all sunshine and roses for the film, however, as the "C-" CinemaScore doesn't bode well for the weekend holdover.



On average, films with a "C-" CinemaScore drop over 53% in their second weekend, though horror films tend to have a little better hold, averaging a 51.5% second weekend.

There is some precedent for a strong second weekend for a film in this range as 2011's Don't be Afraid of the Dark scored a "C-" upon its $8.5 million opening and dropped only 39% in its sophomore session. That was, however, a long Labor Day weekend, which likely played a role in the film's stronger Sunday hold.



The Witch's second weekend hold could mean the difference between a theatrical run that ends around $19 million and one that attempts to push toward $25+ million.

Either way, A24 is already in good shape having purchased distribution rights for the film for only $1 million.







The last of the weekend's new wide releases, Race, finished with an estimated $7.27 million from 2,369 theaters. The Jesse Owens biopic scored the weekend's highest CinemaScore of an "A" and played to an audience that was 51% female vs. 49% male, of which 76% was age 25 years old and up.

The film will likely end up somewhere around $20 million, plus-minus a million or so, once all is said and done.







In limited release, Stephen Chow's The Mermaid, made its way stateside this weekend. The film currently stands at a record $419.4 million in China and Sony opened it in a mere 35 domestic theaters this weekend where it grossed an estimated $1.015 million.

That makes for a weekend-topping $29,000 per theater average. For some added context, this is the biggest opening day and weekend for a limited release Chinese-language film.







Oscilloscope opened the Oscar-nominated Embrace of the Serpent on Wednesday where it made $11,209 in its first two days from two theaters. The film added one more theater for its opening weekend where it brought in an estimated $50,165, a $16,722 per theater average.

Lionsgate released Busco Novio Para Mi Mujer into 357 theaters where it grossed an estimated $900,000 and Fox International released Neerja into 73 theaters where it grossed an estimated $585,315.







Finally, in its expanded release into 540 theaters, Lady in the Van brought in an estimated $1.5 million as the Maggie Smith starrer has now climbed to a $3.8 million cume.

Also expanding this weekend, Sony made one last ditch effort to push Spectre over $200 million as it added 293 theaters. The film, however, could only muster an estimated $105,000 from 340 theaters. Its cume now stands at $199.7 million.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4160&p=.htm









February 19-21, 2016 Weekend Studio Estimates:


1. Deadpool $55,000,000 / $235,394,887
2. Kung Fu Panda 3 $12,500,000 / $117,104,584
3. Risen $11,800,000
4. The Witch $8,685,270
5. How to Be Single $8,220,000 / $31,763,633
6. Race $7,275,000
7. Zoolander 2 $5,500,000 / $23,718,011
8. Star Wars: The Force Awakens $3,836,000 / $921,642,295
9. The Revenant $3,800,000 / $165,116,550
10. Hail, Caesar! $2,640,000 / $26,153,145

The Gods of Egypt are No Match for Deadpool, Which Climbs to $285+ Million Domestically
by Brad Brevet
February 28, 2016


It was another stellar weekend for as the R-rated superhero feature dropped only 44.2% and is now the third highest grossing R-rated movie of all-time.

Meanwhile, Gods of Egypt conjured a second place finish while Triple 9 and Eddie the Eagle battling for fifth place with single-digit openings.







With an estimated $31.5 million first place finish, Deadpool's domestic cume now stands at an estimated $285.6 million.

Stacked against previous R-rated releases, only American Sniper and The Passion of the Christ have taken in more at the domestic box office and it will be interesting to see how close to Sniper's $350.1 million Deadpool can get.

Overseas the Merc with the Mouth added another $40+ million as the film's worldwide cume is now over $600 million.






Coming in second, Lionsgate and Summit's Gods of Egypt brought in an estimated $14 million, which is either above or below expectations depending on how you look at it. Mojo was expecting a weekend closer to $12-13 million, while pre-weekend tracking suggested a $15 million weekend was likely.

Either way, the $140 million budgeted feature, which is reportedly also carrying a $30 million marketing budget, isn't likely to be making up that money at the domestic box office.

The Alex Proyas-directed feature did bring in an estimated $24.2 million internationally, for a $38+ million global debut, but with a budget of that size and a domestic run that could struggle to reach $35 million, there's a lot of ground to cover in the post-theatrical market.







In a battle for fifth place is where we find the weekend's other two new wide releases, Eddie the Eagle and Triple 9.

Eddie currently holds the edge with an estimated $6.3 million opening, just ahead of Triple 9 at an estimated $6.1 million.



For Eddie the Eagle this weekend's results were, more-or-less, right on target. Budgeted at $23 million, the family-friendly feature starring Hugh Jackman and Kingsman's Taron Egerton was expected to make something in the range of $7 million.

The film did score an "A" CinemaScore as it played to an audience that was 50/50 male to female, 75% of which were over the age of 25.



As for John Hillcoat's corrupt cop, heist thriller, the star-studded Triple 9 did not inspire audiences. Heading into the weekend it appeared Gods of Egypt could possibly falter enough for Triple 9 to pick up some steam over Saturday and Sunday if opening day audiences took to it.

They didn't. In fact, while Gods of Egypt may have a 13% RottenTomatoes rating to Triple 9's 54%, opening day audiences gave a slight edge to the Gods.



Triple 9 scored a lackluster "C+" CinemaScore to Gods of Egypt's "B-". Neither of which are impressive, but heading into the weekend it seemed the roles would be reversed.

Given this opening, Triple 9 is likely looking at a $15-17 million domestic run.







Other weekend highlights include another strong hold for Kung Fu Panda 3, which is now up to $128.4 million domestically with another sub-30% drop in its fifth weekend.

Next weekend it will take a hit, however, as Disney's Zootopia arrives in theaters after an impressive international performance where it has brought in an estimated $81.4 million so far in its third weekend of release.







Sony's Risen dropped 40.7% for a second weekend in the top five, bringing in an estimated $7 million as its cume now climbs to $22.7 million in two weeks of release.

Also in its sophomore session, A24's The Witch dipped only 43.1% for an estimated $5 million weekend as its cume now stands at $16.6 million.







This weekend also serves as the first weekend since its release 11 weeks ago that Star Wars: The Force Awakens has finished outside the top ten.

Landing in eleventh position with an estimated $3 million weekend, the film has now crossed $925 million domestically.







Edging out Star Wars for that tenth slot was The Revenant with an estimated $3.8 million and a cume that now stands at an estimated $170.5 million. Taking that cume into consideration, The Revenant is heading into tonight's Oscars with a strong chance at scoring a Best Picture win.

Should it win, it will be the ninth highest grossing Best Picture winner of all-time, though not for very long. By the end of next weekend it will pass Chicago ($170.6m), A Beautiful Mind ($170.7m) and most likely Rain Man ($172.8m), placing it in sixth position behind Dances with Wolves ($184.2m).

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4162&p=.htm









February 26-28, 2016 Weekend Studio Estimates:


1. Deadpool $31,500,000 / $285,639,009
2. Gods of Egypt $14,000,000
3. Kung Fu Panda 3 $9,000,000 / $128,455,359
4. Risen $7,000,000 / $22,703,747
5. Eddie the Eagle $6,300,000
6. Triple 9 $6,103,096
7. How to Be Single $5,155,000 / $39,625,866
8. The Witch $5,009,662 / $16,618,191
9. Race $4,273,000 / $13,862,622
10. The Revenant $3,800,000 / $170,506,469