Not even Ryan Reynolds could have expected this. 20th Century Fox’s Deadpool demolished expectations and its competition, pulling in audiences at home and abroad.
The movie, based on a relatively little-known Marvel X-Men character, took in an astonishing $135 million over the weekend and that’s not including what it could do on the President’s Day holiday. Overseas, the film made an estimated $125 million from 61 territories, bringing its worldwide total to $260 million.
If you think Star Wars: The Force Awakens broke a long list of records, get ready for the list of ones Deadpool has already set. As Box Office Mojo notes, the film crushed Fifty Shades of Grey’s record February opening. (Fifty Shades opened to $85 million last year.) The film also had the best opening for an R-rated comic book movie, passing 300’s $70.8 million. The Matrix Reloaded’s record R-rated opening of $91.7 million was also smashed.
Deadpool also earned the best opening ever for 20th Century Fox, passing Star Wars: Revenge of The Sith’s $108.4 million opening in May 2005. Oh, and Deadpool had a record Thursday with $12.7 million from previews.
Considering that Deadpool only cost $58 million to make, everyone involved has to be excited. The film was directed by first-timer Tim Miller, who had been attached to the project for almost a decade.
Kung Fu Panda 3 took in $19.6 million in its third weekend, bringing its domestic total to $93.9 million. The film has made $256.1 million worldwide.
How to Be Single opened to just $18.7 million, while the 15-year wait for Zoolander 2 was just too much. The Ben Stiller movie was a dud, opening to just $15.6 million.
The Revenant rounded out the top five with $6.9 million.
For the first time since its release in December, Star Wars: The Force Awakens missed the top five with only $6.1 million this weekend.