Weekend Actuals: ‘Deadpool 2’ Blasts Into No. 1 with $125.5M; ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Dethroned to 2nd with $29.4M

Monday Update:

Fox’s superhero sequel proved the franchise was hardly “dead,” as Deadpool 2 opened atop the box office with $125.5 million.

While that was about 5 percent behind the original Deadpool from 2016, that film had the benefit of both the President’s Day holiday and Valentine’s Day, rendering comparisons somewhat inexact.

The two Deadpool films now take both the top two slots in the ranking of higher R-rated opening weekends of all time. (Adjusted for ticket price inflation, the original remains #1, but the sequel falls to #4 behind also The Matrix Reloaded and last year’s It.)

Elsewhere at the box office:

  • The top film for the past three straight weekends, fellow superhero sequel Avengers: Infinity War, drops to second place with $29.4 million.
  • Paramount’s counter-programmer Book Club, aimed primarily at women over 40, debuted in third place with $13.5 million.
  • Global Road Entertainment’s family-friendly Show Dogs started a bit behind expectations, with $6.0 million and sixth place.

Comparisons

Total box office this weekend was $204.9 million.

That’s 51.0 percent above last weekend. It’s also 68.3 percent above this same weekend last year, when Alien: Covenant led with $36.1 million.

Total year-to-date box office stands at $4.56 billion, or 6.9 percent above this same date last year. That’s an improvement from the +5.3 percent that the YTD box office stood after last weekend. It’s also the highest percentage that 2018’s box office has stood relative to 2017 since mid-March.

Our table of weekend actuals is below, after our Sunday update featuring fuller analysis.


Sunday Update:

Deadpool 2 reigned supreme this weekend at the North American box office, dethroning three-time champ Avengers: Infinity War with a sizzling $125 million debut. While it’s an impressive opening, the R-rated superhero sequel came in at the lower end of expectations and failed to unseat its predecessor for the title of top R-rated opening of all time in North America.

From its opening day, the 20th Century Fox release was already making its way into the record books. Its Thursday night preview gross of $18.6 million was the highest-ever for an R-rated film (and only a shade behind more family-friendly blockbusters like The Avengers and Jurassic World), and its gross on Friday was also the highest R-rated opening day take in history, topping It‘s $50.4 million (as well as the first Deadpool‘s $47.3 million). The film’s take was boosted by an enormous screen count of 4,349, a record for both an R-rated movie and 20th Century Fox.

As standalone superhero sequels go, Deadpool 2 is somewhat unusual in that it it grossed less than the first film did in its opening weekend. It’s more typical for such sequels to surpass the opening weekend of their predecessor take by a significantly wide margin, which suggests the first Deadpool did a fantastic job of wooing its core fanbase out of the gate the first time around (and obviously they liked the results, as they mostly ended up coming back for more).

Deadpool 2 was certainly helped along by positive critical notices (it currently stands at an 84% “Certified Fresh” rating, about even with the first film), the studio’s clever, no-holds-barred marketing campaign, and excellent word-of-mouth (the Cinemascore is an “A” and its Rotten Tomatoes audience rating is 85%). That said, it was more frontloaded than the first entry, dropping a sizable 24 percent from Friday to Saturday as opposed to Deadpool‘s 10 percent. It will be interesting to see how Deadpool 2 holds up in its sophomore frame, particularly with Solo: A Star Wars Story set to drop next weekend.

Falling to second place for the first time, Avengers: Infinity War brought in an estimated $28.7 million in its fourth go-round, bringing its domestic total to a titanic $595 million. The film obviously took a sizable hit from the Merc with a Mouth this weekend, falling 53 percent, but luckily it was able to enjoy three full weekends of play with no major competitors in the marketplace. It won’t be long before the superhero blockbuster surpasses both Star Wars: The Last Jedi ($620.1 million) and the first Avengers ($623.3 million) to become the sixth highest-grossing movie of all time in North America.

Third place went to Paramount’s Book Club, which brought in a healthy $12.5 million in its opening frame. The comedy starring Jane Fonda, Mary Steenburgen, Diane Keaton, and Candice Bergen was squarely aimed at older women (a.k.a. those who aren’t likely clamoring to see Deadpool 2), and that proved to be a smart feat of counter-programming on the part of the studio. The audience breakdown on this one was about what you’d expect, with 80 percent women, 88 percent over the age of 35, and nearly 50 percent women over the age of 50.

Compared with other recent releases aimed at the same general audience, Book Club‘s opening is about on par with last year’s Going in Style ($11.9 million opening), while it came in several million shy of 2015’s The Intern ($17.7 million). Though critics were decidedly mixed, the positive “A-” CinemaScore could suggest a leggy run ahead for the film, which has few competitors in the marketplace currently.

The weekend’s other wide opener, the family-oriented Show Dogs, withered with a scant $6 million in sixth place in its first go-round. Unlike Book Club, the Global Road release did not prove to be an effective counter-programmer against Deadpool. It was likely hurt by negative reviews (it currently sits at a dismal 26% rating on Rotten Tomatoes) and the fact that unlike some of the most successful recent family films, its marketing failed to offer anything that might woo parents as well as kids (the attachment of Arrested Development star Will Arnett notwithstanding).

Show Dogs‘ opening is similar to last year’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul, which debuted to $7.1 million on the pre-Memorial Day weekend last year before going on to a final gross of $20.7 million. It’s certainly not a good sign that even with so few viable family movies currently in release, Show Dogs couldn’t manage to capture a bigger audience.

Coming in fourth was Warner Bros.’ Life of the Party, which dropped a sizable 56 percent to $7.7 million in its second frame for a total of $31 million so far. Even compared with 2016’s The Boss – up to now McCarthy’s lowest-grossing starring vehicle to date – the numbers are dreary. It’s currently off 22 percent from that film at the same point in its run, further suggesting that audiences are tiring of the type of broad comedy vehicles that once minted gold for the once-unstoppable star.

Also dropping precipitously from its opening frame was Universal’s Breaking In, which took fifth place with an estimated $6.4 million in weekend two. That’s a fairly sizable-but-not-unexpected 63 percent drop for the Gabrielle Union thriller, whose total now stands at $28.7 million after ten days. The film is pacing a few million below Tyler Perry’s Acrimony, which had $31.6 million in the bank at the same point in its run. With a reported production budget of just $6 million, this is a healthy result for the Will Packer-produced title, which managed to nearly equal Life of the Party last weekend despite debuting on roughly 1,000 fewer screens.

In seventh place, Lionsgate/Pantelion’s Overboard took in an estimated $4.7 million in its third weekend, bringing its total to $36.9 million. Eighth went to A Quiet Place, which spent its seventh weekend in the Top 10 with $4 million, bringing the Paramount blockbuster’s total to $176.1 million.

Rounding out the Top 10, Warner Bros./New Line’s Rampage took in an estimated $1.5 million in ninth for a total of $92.4 million after six weeks, while in tenth place I Feel Pretty grossed an estimated $1.2 million in its fifth weekend for a grand total of $46.5 million.

Limited Release:

A24’s First Reformed, the acclaimed drama from writer-director Paul Schrader, opened to a stellar $100,270 on just 4 screens, giving it a fantastic per-screen average of $25,067. The film, which stars Ethan Hawke as a former military chaplain grieving over the death of his son, will expand in the coming weeks.

Also in limited release, the 50th anniversary 70mm rerelease of 2001: A Space Odyssey grossed an estimated $200,000 on four screens, giving it a per-screen average of $50,000. Warner Bros. struck a new, unrestored 70mm print of the film from the original camera negative for the rerelease, an enticing prospect for super-fans of the Stanley Kubrick classic.

Overseas Update:

Deadpool 2 opened to a massive $176 million internationally, in the process becoming Fox International’s highest opening weekend of all time, surpassing the $174 million X-Men: Days of Future Past grossed in 2014 (a number that also included China, where Deadpool 2 has yet to premiere). That’s significantly higher than the first Deadpool, which opened to $132.3 million internationally back in 2016. With an estimated $301 million worldwide, it’s an auspicious start for the superhero sequel, which shot to No. 1 in every market in which it was released.

[Read more here.]

Avengers: Infinity War continued to dominate internationally with $113.1 million. That number includes $53.7 million in China, where it has surpassed $300 million in just ten days. That already makes it the fourth highest-grossing Western release in Chinese history and the highest-grossing Marvel release ever in the country. With $1.814 billion worldwide, the MCU blockbuster is currently the fourth highest-grossing film of all time globally as well as the highest-grossing superhero film of all time.


Weekend Actuals (Domestic)

FRI, MAY. 18 – SUN, MAY. 20

WIDE (1000+)

# TITLE WEEKEND LOCATIONS AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 Deadpool 2 $125,507,153 4,349 $28,859 $125,507,153 1 Fox
2 Avengers: Infinity War $29,452,903 -53% 4,002 -472 $7,360 $595,813,862 4 Disney
3 Book Club $13,582,231 2,781 $4,884 $13,582,231 1 Paramount Pictures
4 Life Of The Party $7,603,850 -57% 3,656 0 $2,080 $30,915,357 2 Warner Bros. / New Line
5 Breaking In $6,826,385 -61% 2,537 0 $2,691 $29,106,095 2 Universal Pictures
6 Show Dogs $6,023,972 3,212 $1,875 $6,023,972 1 Global Road Entertainment
7 Overboard $4,625,858 -53% 1,820 -186 $2,542 $36,874,428 3 Lionsgate / Pantelion
8 A Quiet Place $3,944,442 -39% 2,327 -817 $1,695 $176,080,755 7 Paramount
9 Rampage $1,577,260 -54% 1,466 -1082 $1,076 $92,500,589 6 Warner Bros
10 I Feel Pretty $1,265,813 -67% 1,505 -1353 $841 $46,604,270 5 STX Entertainment

LIMITED (100 — 999)

# TITLE WEEKEND LOCATIONS AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 RBG $1,252,920 5% 378 194 $3,315 $3,853,686 3 Magnolia Pictures
2 Super Troopers 2 $1,216,470 24% 478 -901 $2,545 $29,028,826 5 20th Century Fox
3 Black Panther $860,442 -59% 935 -435 $920 $697,822,227 14 Disney
4 Tully $560,020 -75% 670 -686 $836 $8,430,545 3 Focus Features
5 Disobedience $521,915 24% 247 147 $2,113 $1,901,655 4 Bleecker Street
6 Pope Francis – A Man of His Word $507,870 346 $1,468 $507,870 1 Focus Features
7 Blockers $462,580 -59% 439 -672 $1,054 $59,038,055 7 Universal
8 Ready Player One $365,484 -59% 388 -416 $942 $135,292,094 8 Warner Bros. / DreamWorks
9 Isle of Dogs $344,866 -68% 288 -758 $1,197 $30,743,143 9 Fox Searchlight
10 Sherlock Gnomes $297,486 -27% 419 -189 $710 $42,216,688 9 Paramount / MGM
11 Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare $250,845 -73% 380 -889 $660 $40,287,855 6 Universal
12 I Can Only Imagine $171,390 -57% 274 -155 $626 $82,818,957 10 Roadside Attractions
13 A Wrinkle in Time $160,746 -86% 230 -1754 $699 $97,366,188 11 Walt Disney Pictures
14 102 Not Out $134,416 -54% 102 0 $1,318 $1,215,143 3 Sony Pictures Releasing International
15 Chappaquiddick $86,561 -65% 150 -167 $577 $17,171,473 7 Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures
16 Peter Rabbit $67,311 -33% 145 -34 $464 $115,045,409 15 Sony / Columbia
17 Tyler Perry’s Acrimony $67,282 -67% 116 -141 $580 $43,385,631 8 Lionsgate
18 Tomb Raider $65,701 -43% 134 -26 $490 $57,333,205 10 Warner Bros.
19 Game Night $60,278 -48% 121 -37 $498 $68,838,771 13 Warner Bros.
20 The Miracle Season $45,831 -63% 101 -133 $454 $10,017,545 7 LD Entertainment

PLATFORM (1 — 99)

# TITLE WEEKEND LOCATIONS AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 2001: A Space Odyssey (2018 re-issue) $202,759 4 $50,690 $202,759 1 Warner Bros.
2 Pandas $124,213 13% 35 0 $3,549 $1,379,297 7 Warner Bros.
3 Beast $102,079 92% 31 27 $3,293 $181,093 2 Roadside Attractions
4 Nothing to Lose (2018) $98,094 -86% 44 -25 $2,229 $937,530 2 Swen
5 First Reformed $97,562 4 $24,391 $97,562 1 A24
6 Let The Sunshine In $86,557 -22% 48 14 $1,803 $391,661 4 IFC Films
7 The Death of Stalin $55,060 -57% 45 -85 $1,224 $7,808,061 11 IFC Films
8 Traffik $48,716 -82% 81 -300 $601 $9,079,213 5 Lionsgate / Summit / Codeblack Films
9 Red Sparrow $36,832 197% 22 -10 $1,674 $46,826,445 12 20th Century Fox
10 On Chesil Beach $35,765 4 $8,941 $35,765 1 Bleecker Street
11 The Greatest Showman $34,127 -44% 67 -22 $509 $173,947,134 22 Fox
12 Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle $30,609 -38% 67 -31 $457 $404,468,712 22 Sony / Columbia
13 Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat $27,649 22% 11 9 $2,514 $65,690 2 Magnolia Pictures
14 You Were Never Really Here $27,119 -68% 32 -70 $847 $2,448,819 7 Amazon Studios
15 Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero $22,293 -58% 30 -79 $743 $3,054,285 6 Fun Academy
16 Paul, Apostle of Christ $21,430 -58% 59 -53 $363 $17,547,999 9 Sony Pictures Entertainment
17 Beirut $18,999 -69% 15 -52 $1,267 $4,953,166 6 Bleecker Street
18 Lean on Pete $17,702 -76% 44 -85 $402 $1,121,841 7 A24
19 Bad Samaritan $16,190 -97% 48 -1498 $337 $3,424,744 3 Electric Entertainment
20 Death Wish $15,043 -22% 25 2 $602 $33,997,862 12 MGM
21 A Bag Of Marbles $14,584 -42% 11 -4 $1,326 $307,999 9 Gaumont
22 Always at the Carlyle $13,204 43% 7 6 $1,886 $28,382 2 Good Deed Entertainment
23 Love, Simon $13,188 -67% 32 -71 $412 $40,733,984 10 20th Century Fox
24 Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami $12,979 -45% 16 -14 $811 $312,271 6 Kino Lorber
25 Finding Your Feet $12,737 -69% 30 -31 $425 $1,374,248 8 Roadside Attractions
26 Filmworker $11,196 40% 4 3 $2,799 $32,448 2 Kino Lorber
27 The Guardians $11,007 25% 7 4 $1,572 $35,958 3 Music Box Films
28 Revenge (2018) $10,615 -77% 15 -22 $708 $81,973 2 Neon
29 Lu Over the Wall $6,261 -90% 11 -86 $569 $95,337 2 GKIDS
30 That Summer $5,977 1 $5,977 $5,977 1 IFC Films
31 Bye Bye Germany $5,861 1197% 5 3 $1,172 $41,327 6 Film Movement
32 Ferdinand $5,440 -27% 17 -8 $320 $84,389,759 23 Fox
33 Keep The Change $5,049 -53% 7 -2 $721 $181,367 10 Kino Lorber
34 The Escape $4,992 29 $172 $8,901 2 IFC Films
35 The Strangers: Prey At Night $4,938 -48% 15 -9 $329 $24,428,800 11 Aviron Pictures
36 Zama $4,826 -26% 7 0 $689 $170,267 6 Strand Releasing
37 1945 $4,407 -66% 8 -8 $551 $667,929 29 Menemsha Films
38 The Day After $3,824 -15% 3 2 $1,275 $11,738 2 Cinema Guild
39 Godard Mon Amour $3,729 -64% 10 -2 $373 $78,401 5 Cohen Media Group
40 Ghost Stories $3,406 -79% 9 -7 $378 $132,887 5 IFC Films / IFC Midnight
41 Little Pink House $3,249 -81% 5 -8 $650 $185,812 5
42 Cold Water $2,587 168% 1 0 $2,587 $19,979 4 Janus Films
43 Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story $2,466 -64% 6 -5 $411 $812,807 26 Zeitgeist
44 Getting Grace $2,296 -70% 3 -1 $765 $214,781 9 Hannover House
45 The Desert Bride $1,658 -49% 4 1 $415 $10,327 3 Strand Releasing
46 The Great Silence $1,590 512% 1 -1 $1,590 $40,193 8 Film Movement
47 Leaning Into The Wind $1,501 -69% 4 -8 $375 $381,046 11 Magnolia Pictures
48 Oh Lucy! $1,448 -82% 3 -10 $483 $362,404 12 Film Movement
49 The Doctor From India $900 -72% 1 -1 $900 $14,506 5 Kino LorberZeitgeist Films
50 Back to Burgundy $855 -93% 3 -14 $285 $245,527 9 Music Box Films
51 The Devil and Father Amorth $720 -84% 1 -3 $720 $20,449 5 The Orchard
52 Hitler’s Hollywood $702 -86% 3 0 $234 $38,265 6 Kino Lorber
53 Ismael’s Ghosts $282 -80% 2 -5 $141 $102,286 9 Magnolia Pictures
54 Claire’s Camera $264 -84% 1 -1 $264 $73,593 11 Cinema Guild
55 Strangers on the Earth $172 1 $172 $7,452 3 First Run Features
56 On the Beach at Night Alone $89 1 $89 $36,418 27 Cinema Guild

Studio Weekend Estimates (Domestic)

FRI, MAY. 18 – SUN, MAY. 20

WIDE (1000+)

# TITLE WEEKEND LOCATIONS AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 Deadpool 2 $125,000,000 4,349 $28,742 $125,000,000 1 Fox
2 Avengers: Infinity War $28,672,000 -54% 4,002 -472 $7,164 $595,032,959 4 Disney
3 Book Club $12,500,000 2,781 $4,495 $12,500,000 1 Paramount Pictures
4 Life Of The Party $7,725,000 -57% 3,656 0 $2,113 $31,036,507 2 Warner Bros. / New Line
5 Breaking In $6,470,000 -63% 2,537 0 $2,550 $28,749,710 2 Universal Pictures
6 Show Dogs $6,034,770 3,212 $1,879 $6,034,770 1 Global Road Entertainment
7 Overboard $4,725,000 -52% 1,820 -186 $2,596 $36,973,570 3 Lionsgate / Pantelion
8 A Quiet Place $4,040,000 -37% 2,327 -817 $1,736 $176,176,313 7 Paramount
9 Rampage $1,500,000 -57% 1,466 -1082 $1,023 $92,423,329 6 Warner Bros
10 I Feel Pretty $1,200,000 -68% 1,505 -1353 $797 $46,538,457 5 STX Entertainment

LIMITED (100 — 999)

# TITLE WEEKEND LOCATIONS AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 RBG $1,280,000 8% 375 191 $3,413 $3,880,766 3 Magnolia Pictures
2 Super Troopers 2 $1,100,000 12% 478 -901 $2,301 $28,912,356 5 20th Century Fox
3 Black Panther $823,000 -60% 935 -435 $880 $697,784,785 14 Disney
4 Tully $570,000 -75% 670 -686 $851 $8,440,525 3 Focus Features
5 Disobedience $498,612 18% 247 147 $2,019 $1,878,352 4 Bleecker Street
6 Pope Francis – A Man of His Word $480,000 346 $1,387 $480,000 1 Focus Features
7 Blockers $400,000 -64% 428 -683 $935 $58,975,475 7 Universal
8 Isle of Dogs $325,000 -70% 288 -758 $1,128 $30,723,277 9 Fox Searchlight
9 Sherlock Gnomes $280,000 -31% 419 -189 $668 $42,199,202 9 Paramount / MGM
10 Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare $240,000 -74% 380 -889 $632 $40,277,010 6 Universal
11 I Can Only Imagine $172,750 -57% 274 -155 $630 $82,820,317 10 Roadside Attractions
12 A Wrinkle in Time $135,000 -88% 230 -1754 $587 $97,340,442 11 Walt Disney Pictures
13 102 Not Out $125,000 -57% 102 0 $1,225 $1,205,727 3 Sony Pictures Releasing International
14 Chappaquiddick $101,000 -60% 150 -167 $673 $17,185,912 7 Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures
15 Tyler Perry’s Acrimony $70,000 -66% 116 -141 $603 $43,388,349 8 Lionsgate
16 The Miracle Season $46,500 -63% 101 -133 $460 $10,018,214 7 LD Entertainment

PLATFORM (1 — 99)

# TITLE WEEKEND LOCATIONS AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 2001: A Space Odyssey (2018 re-issue) $200,000 4 $50,000 $200,000 1 Warner Bros.
2 The Rider $169,640 -23% 90 5 $1,885 $1,111,954 6 Sony Pictures Classics
3 Beast $102,250 92% 31 27 $3,298 $181,264 2 Roadside Attractions
4 First Reformed $100,270 4 $25,068 $100,270 1 A24
5 Let The Sunshine In $94,602 -15% 49 15 $1,931 $399,663 4 IFC Films
6 The Seagull $65,949 -17% 13 7 $5,073 $180,865 2 Sony Pictures Classics
7 The Death of Stalin $61,432 -52% 50 -80 $1,229 $7,813,511 11 IFC Films
8 Traffik $52,500 -81% 81 -300 $648 $9,082,997 5 Lionsgate / Summit / Codeblack Films
9 On Chesil Beach $36,563 4 $9,141 $36,563 1 Bleecker Street
10 Finding Your Feet $15,075 -63% 30 -31 $503 $1,376,586 8 Roadside Attractions
11 Bad Samaritan $14,500 -97% 48 -1498 $302 $3,423,054 3 Electric Entertainment
12 Always at the Carlyle $11,999 30% 7 6 $1,714 $27,177 2 Good Deed Entertainment
13 Revenge (2018) $11,204 -76% 15 -22 $747 $82,562 2 Neon
14 The Guardians $10,599 20% 7 4 $1,514 $35,550 3 Music Box Films
15 That Summer $6,018 1 $6,018 $6,018 1 IFC Films
16 Godard Mon Amour $3,727 -64% 9 -3 $414 $78,400 5 Cohen Media Group
17 Getting Grace $2,222 -71% 3 -1 $741 $214,707 9 Hannover House

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