It would have required the mind of a supervillain to have comprehended the idea of Deadpool completely obliterating the landscape of comic book adaptations, strategic release date implementation, and the logic in embracing the R rating. The whole concept went from 0-60 in no time and what was a neat curiosity is now a game-changing film. Possibly even more so than Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s as if Marvel just found another food group to mix into its already bustling grouping of yearly offerings.
Over the course of the four day weekend, the Ryan Reynolds story of the “Merc with the Mouth” pulled in a ridiculous $150,000,000. That’s the best R rated opening of all time, the best Fox opening of all time, the best February opening of all time, and the best Winter opening of all time. The returns validated the continued efforts of Reynolds and director Tim Miller to get the film made. They showcased that an “outside the box” approach is less risky than assumed. They also delivered on an amazing marketing campaign. All in all it was a big win for the good guys.
Zoolander No. 2 took the brunt of Deadpool‘s success. The long lag of time since the original film, awful reviews, and a funnier film opening the same day put all the requisite nails in the Ben Stiller project’s coffin. It would have been a fun story had the two duked it out all weekend but it wasn’t meant to be. How to be Single ended up delivering quality counterprogramming but enough can’t be said of Deadpool‘s ability to mine such a wide demographic.
The only downside is that way too many parents brought way too many young kids to the movie. Many young eyes and ears got their first sights and sounds of adult content in the guise of a superhero movie. Maybe it was too well-marketed!
The Numbers Game
I’ve added a little fun into the box office report. A little guessing game. Let’s see how close we can get to guessing the correct box office numbers for the movies opening next week.
Last Week:
Deadpool
My Guess: $40,000,000
Actual: $132,100,000
Result: I was only off by about a hundred million!
Zoolander No. 2
My Guess: $30,000,000
Actual: $15,650,000
Result: That was a serious butt kicking.
How to be Single
My Guess: $15,000,000
Actual: $18,750,000
Result: I got this one close. What a weird world.
This week:
The Witch
By all accounts The Witch is a powerhouse horror film. The marketing has been sly and played on a sense of dread and taboo that critics seem to be championing. So often the case with hyped horror movies, the end product disappoints. This looks to be the exception though how well it fares at the box office is another thing altogether.
My guess: $21,000,000
Race
The Jesse Owens story comes to the big screen again, this time with a unique balance of actors and the director of Predator 2 at the helm. Stephan James stars while Jeremy Irons, William Hurt, and Jason Sudeikis support. Stephen Hopkins has had an interesting career behind the camera from duds like Lost in Space to the aforementioned Danny Glover alien action film to 24. It looks well-made but the real merit is if they’re able to elevate it above “movie of the week” territory.
My guess: $17,000,000
Risen
Faith-based cinematic endeavors either hit hard or disappear quickly. A somewhat high profile cast helps Risen‘s chances as does the presence of Kevin Reynolds behind the lens. He’s a long way from the highs of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and the criminally underrated Waterworld but Reynolds has cobbled together a very interesting career. We’ll see if this one rises or falls amidst tough competition.
My guess: $11,000,000
See you next week!
Source: Box Office Mojo