Deadpool, once the little superhero movie that could, has rocketed past all expectations at the box office to become a bona fide juggernaut, and it maintained momentum in its second weekend, pulling in another $55 million to blast its domestic haul past $200 million.
The superhero blockbuster, which debuted to a stunning $132.4 million over a three-day weekend, dropped off 58.5%, which is fairly common for superhero movies, but the fact that it’s still selling as many tickets as it is amounts to more great news for Fox. The studio is surely still in the midst of taking a massive victory lap after putting its faith in an R-rated standalone superhero flick starring one historically less-than-bankable star (Ryan Reynolds, whose face is also covered for the vast majority of the movie).
There’s really no precedent for Deadpool, which has now rung up a worldwide total of $497 million after climbing faster than any R-rated movie in history. The movie has been a tremendous hit with critics and audiences, and its impact is already being felt throughout Hollywood, with The Wolverine 3 finally getting its R-rating and WB’s stop-and-start IT adaptation again earning the two-R-rated-movies approach fans have been calling for since the early days of Cary Fukunaga’s involvement (Mama‘s Andrés Muschietti is now at the helm).
Other movies braved Deadpool and came away with solid results at the box office this weekend. Kung Fu Panda 3 took the second overall spot, adding $12.5 million to a total $117 million gross, but the faith-based Risen also had an unexpectedly strong showing, opening in wide release with $11.8 million (that’s one of the best openings ever for a movie squarely targeting Christian audiences).
In fourth place, The Witch took in a terrific $8.6 million despite a much lower theater count than Risen, which is a good sign for distributor A24. The movie’s 88% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes means it could have legs in the coming weeks, though audiences were far less favorable, handing it a C- CinemaScore rating.
Rounding out the top five was holdover How to Be Single, continuing to draw rom-com fans. The decently reviewed studio release grossed a solid $8.2 million. Jesse Owens biopic Race, meanwhile, brought in $7.2 million to meet very low expectations and take sixth spot overall.
