‘Deadpool’ blasts North America box office records
LOS ANGELES: Superhero movie ‘ Deadpool’ dominated the North American box office on its debut weekend, taking in a record breaking US$135 million and leaving its competitors in the dust, industry estimates showed Sunday.
Starring Ryan Reynolds as a Marvel Comics character, the film’s blow out reception in theatres propelled it to the biggest-ever February and R-rated debut, said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at comScore.
With Monday being a public holiday in the United States, Dergarabedian predicted the Fox production’s initial haul could climb to a “mind-boggling US$150 million.”
Far behind in second place was ‘ KungFuPanda3’ -- Dreamworks’ computer-animated comedy that follows the adventures of Po as he evolves from martial arts student to teacher -- which took in US$19.7 million, industry tracker Exhibitor Relations said.
Featuring the voices of Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman and Angelina Jolie, it has garnered US$93 million since its release.
Also making its debut -- in third place -- was ‘ How to be single’, a comedy about solo life set in New York City starring Dakota Johnson, Rebel Wilson and Leslie Mann.
It saw US$18.8 million in ticket sales over Valentine’s Day weekend.
Fourth place went to fellow new release ‘ Zoolander 2’, which snagged US$15.7 million.
Starring, directed and cowritten by Ben Stiller, the comedy that dips into the fashion world also features Penelope Cruz and Owen Wilson.
Coming in fifth was ‘ The Revenant’, a grisly survival and revenge thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The critically acclaimed film, which has been showered with Oscar nominations, took in US$6.9 million. Rounding out the top 10 were:
6) ‘Hail, Caesar!’, US$6.6 million
7) ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’, US$6.2 million
8) ‘The Choice’, US$5.3 million
9) ‘Ride Along 2’, US$4.1 million
10) ‘The Boy’, US$2.9 million