‘Deadpool 2’ good for No. 1
And down goes Avengers at the box office.
LOS ANGELES – Deadpool and his foul-mouthed crew of misfits and malcontents took down the Avengers.
Deadpool 2 brought in $125 million in its opening weekend and ended the three-week reign of Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War at the top of the North American box office, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Deadpool 2, in which Reynolds returns as the title character and took on co-writing duties behind the scenes, fell somewhat short of the $130 million the studio predicted and the $132.4 million its predecessor earned two years ago.
The total still made for the secondhighest opening weekend for an R-rated movie and signaled that R-rated superhero films could become franchises and not just one-off successes.
The film, which co-stars Josh Brolin as Cable and Zazie Beetz as Domino, was a hit with critics, who gave it 83% positive reviews at aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, and audiences, who assigned it an A-grade at CinemaScore.
The Avengers are hardly hurting. Avengers: Infinity War brought in about $29 million in North America for a fourweek take of $595 million, which makes it the No. 8 domestic release of all time.
In a whole different corner of the cin- ematic universe, Book Club was third with a $12.5 million weekend that exceeded expectations.
It was a successful piece of counterprogramming.
The modestly budgeted, Fifty Shades of Grey- themed romantic comedy starring Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen found older audiences and women while Deadpool 2 dwelled overwhelmingly on young men.
Melissa McCarthy’s college comedy Life of the Party, about a housewife who goes back to school after being dumped by her husband and winds up in the same social circle as her less-than-thrilled daughter, finished fourth with $7.7 million.
Gabrielle Union’s thriller Breaking In, about a mom desperate to rescue her two children when they’re taken hostage in a well-secured house, was fifth with $6.5 million.
Also new in the top 10: The PG-rated comedy Show Dogs, starring Will Arnett as a detective and Ludacris as the voice of his canine partner, which finished sixth with $6 million.
Final figures are expected Monday.