“Deadpool” Repeats as Box Office Champion

Deadpool did it again. In its second weekend, the foul-mouthed comic book movie earned an estimated $55 million for first place. That’s what most people expected it to do in its first weekend. Then of course, it defied all expectations. The R-rated hit has now made $235.3 million in its first 10 days, which is already more than any X-Men movies have ever made. By next week, it will have vaulted into the Top 10 Marvel movies, leaping past The Amazing Spider-Man and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Kung Fu Panda 3 stuck it out in second place. It’s held better than any of its predecessors while still making far less money. That speaks to audience interest and the fact that it opened in January and not in the middle of summer.

Of the newcomers, the faith-based historical drama Risen, about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, did the best. It made an estimated $11.8 million. That’s well below 2014’s Son of God, which opened to $25 million. It should have some legs throughout the Lenten season leading up to Easter on March 27. And then there’s The Witch, the independent supernatural thriller that received rave reviews since premiering at Sundance in 2015. It received a big push opening on more than 2,000 screens, the widest opening ever for indie distributor A24. It’s already their fourth-biggest movie ever and should become their all-time champ, surpassing the $25.4 million Ex Machina made last year.

Outside the top 5:

• This Weekend's Indie Champ: You can’t keep a good movie down. Sony released Stephen Chow’s The Mermaid, currently taking the Chinese box office by storm, as an afterthought in the U.S. Still, it averaged $29,000 on 35 screens. That’s the best limited per-screen average of 2016 so far.
• Race couldn’t even finish in the top 5. The Jesse Owens biopic only managed a weak $7.2 million.
• Embrace of the Serpent, Colombia’s nominee for Best Foreign Language Film at this year’s Oscars, opened well in limited release. The black-and-white Spanish language flick averaged $16,772 on three screens.

Next week:

Three more contenders will fail to unseat Deadpool. Eddie the Eagle is the inspirational sports movie. Triple 9 is the hard-edged dirty cop thriller. And Gods of Egypt is the CGI eyesore that features no actors who look like they’re from Egypt. I’d say the latter has the best chance, but will still only come up with around $20 million. That won’t be enough to stop the Merc with a Mouth.