'Deadpool' Kills It With Historic $135M Box-Office Weekend, Colossal $150M Holiday


by Pamela McClintock

In a sea change for Hollywood’s go-to genre — comic book adaptations — the very R-rated and irreverent Deadpool grossed a record-breaking $135 million over the three-day Valentine’s Day/Presidents Day weekend, one of the best showings of all time for a superhero movie and shattering all expectations.

For the four-day holiday weekend, Deadpool is estimating a colossal $150 million, a Presidents Day best that beats the $93 million grossed a year ago by sensation Fifty Shades of Grey (official four-day estimates will be released Monday morning, so it’s possible the final number could come in higher). Among other records broken, Deadpool boasts the biggest R-rated opening of all time, the biggest opening for the month of February and the top opening in history for Fox. It’s also the biggest debut for a first-time feature director (Tim Miller).

The Marvel-branded Deadpool is an enormous victory for Fox and star Ryan Reynolds, who spent more than a decade convincing the studio to let him make the X-Men spinoff his way, i.e., with a hard R rating. Fox finally said yes but kept the net budget at a relatively modest $58 million. Every other studio superhero movie in recent times has been rated PG-13; Deadpool alters the game.

Related: Box Office: Ryan Reynolds’ ‘Deadpool’ Earns Record $47.5M Friday for Massive $130M Debut

Fox made Deadpool with Marvel Enterprises via its licensing deals for the X-Men universe of characters, and, along with Reynolds, spent months aggressively marketing the movie. (Sometimes, the campaign was as irreverent and out there as the film itself). Deadpool is playing in 3,558 theaters, including Imax locations.

The tongue-in-cheek movie follows Wade Wilson (aka Deadpool), a foul-mouthed, witty mercenary nicknamed the Merc With the Mouth who is bestowed with special powers after undergoing an experimental treatment for cancer. But he vows to get revenge after he’s quickly betrayed, and horribly disfigured, separating him from his his girlfriend (Morena Baccarin). The actor first appeared as the character in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Heading into the weekend, Deadpool was tipped to earn $65 million to $75 million, but it quickly turned into a sensation at the multiplex, with estimates constantly being revised upwards. Deadpool’s three day number makes it the No. 7 comic book opening of all time behind the two The Avengers movies, Iron Man 3, the final two Dark Knight films and Spider-Man 3, not accounting for inflation. And the crown for biggest R-rated opening previously belonged to The Matrix Reloaded ($91.8 million).

Reynolds’ film received an A CinemaScore from all age groups. And 92 percent said they would recommend it to a friend, while 76 percent checked off the excellent box, on par with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, according to ComScore’s PostTrak exit polling service.

Related: Ryan Reynolds Reveals a Young Cancer Patient Was the First to See 'Deadpool’

Deadpool is also off to an impressive start overseas, where it could earn north of $80 million for the weekend (numbers weren’t immediately available).

Reynolds’ movie made the going tough for the other two holiday offerings, Zoolander 2 and How to Be Single as adults and teenagers largely focused on Deadpool. That left an opening for Fox and DreamWorks Animation’s family animated offering Kung Fu Panda 3 to come in No. 2 in its third weekend with $19.7 million for the three-day weekend, and an estimated $26 million for the four days, putting Panda’s domestic total at $100.3 million through Monday.

How to Be Single, an R-rated romantic comedy starring Dakota Johnson, Rebel Wilson, Alison Brie and Leslie Mann, came in No. 3 with a three-day take of $18.8 million and estimated four-day gross of $21 million. That’s in line with New Line and MGM’s hopes for the $38 million movie heading into the holiday weekend.

From Paramount, Zoolander 2, reuniting Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson and Will Ferrell, took in roughly $14 million for the three-day weekend, putting its four-day gross in the $16 million range, a disappointing start considering the studio had hoped for a four-day gross north of $25 million. The sequel cost just north of $50 million to produce.

Zoolander 2 needed better than a C+ CinemaScore to weather withering reviews. The first Zoolander (2001) likewise got a C+, but sported far better notices. How to Be Single earned a ho-hum B CinemaScore.