Weekend Box Office: Deadpool Offs Gods, Eagle in Threepeat Win

By Chris Kavan - 02/28/16 at 07:44 PM CT

It should come as little surprise that Deadpool had little problem holding off the CGI spectacle of Gods of Egypt as well as the uplifting Olympic biopic Eddie the Eagle and the crime thriller Triple 9. With the Oscars coming out tonight we can reflect on how none of the above-mentioned films will be nominated for anything next year, though if there was an award for sheer brazen kick-assery, obviously Deadpool would win all the awards. This will likely be the last weekend Deadpool will claim as its own but it's going out like it came in - with a bang.

1) DEADPOOL

The irreverent Merc with a Mouth has become an R-rated Juggernaut. With another $35.5 million added to its total, Deadpool easily took first place and now stands at $285.6 million with $300 million in its sights. That makes it the third-highest grossing R-rated film of all time, passing The Matrix Reloaded ($281 million) with only the monster grosses of American Sniper ($350 million) and Passion of the Christ ($370 million) ahead of it - and it is likely to surpass American Sniper, though Passion may be just out of its reach. It is also the 13th-highest grossing comic book movie of all time, passing The Amazing Spider-Man ($262 million) and sitting just behind Man of Steel ($291 million). It's going to easily break into the top 10 and will likely settle between Spider-Man 2 and 3 ($373.5 million and $336.5 million respectively). Worldwide, it will be the second-best R-rated film as it will shortly pass The Passion of the Christ ($611.9 million) and is likely only a matter of time before it catches and surpasses The Matrix Reloaded ($742 million) to become the highest-grossing R-rated film worldwide. All this without the benefit of 3D - I would say Deadpool is going to have one of the year's best budget-to-final-gross ratios. We'll see how much of a hit it takes next week when if finally faces true competition, but I think $300 is guaranteed and we'll see how much higher it gets.

2) GODS OF EGYPT

Don't be fooled by the second-place showing of Gods of Egypt because the $14 million debut qualifies as the first major bomb of 2016 as the film sports a $140 million budget. And if you were expecting worldwide grosses to bail this one out - it could only add an additional $24.2 million there (though it still has China). With a reported $30 million marketing on top of that, Gods of Egypt is either going to have to do much better overseas or hope for a robust post-theatrical run to staunch the bleeding. Granted, the most news the film could drum up was on its white-washed cast (that even the director apologized for) and considering the backlash over the Oscars on a lack of diversity - that wasn't going to help the film. Plus, I just thought the effects looked terrible, the plot looked terrible and the actors (bless their souls) looked trapped. Even on home viewing I don't see this playing out well and I expect a hasty exit from the top 10 as the film will struggle to match its marketing budget, let along make a dent in the huge production numbers.

3) KUNG FU PANDA 3

With Zootopia now breathing down its neck, Kung Fu Panda 3 enjoyed what is likely its last decent week at the box office. Jack Black and crew can still be happy, as the additional $9 million (off just 28.1%) was enough for the film to cross the $125 million mark, as it now stands at $128.4 million and hefty $314.2 million worldwide gross. That still trails the first two films by a significant amount (though the domestic total isn't too far behind Kung Fu Panda 2 at $165.2 million) but I think it has done more than enough to warrant a fourth entry into this series. Even competition, the film is likely to wind up around the $140 million mark - skidoosh indeed.

4) RISEN

The "what happened to the body of Christ" drama Risen dropped 40.7% in its second weekend and dipped a single spot to 4th place with a $7 million weekend and new total of $22.7 million. That was enough for it to top its modest $20 million budget. As long as the film can hold on to enough screens coming in to the Easter period it should be able to double its budget with a likely $40 million total when it exits theaters. For a faith-based film, it's looking pretty good and it's performing well in line with expectations (maybe even a bit better) and compared to the like of God's Not Dead, I wish it the best as if I'm going to be subject to religion in films, I at least want to be entertained instead of becoming nauseous.

5) EDDIE THE EAGLE

We already has a feel-good sports biopic in Race and Eddie the Eagel looked to one-up that film, but actually had to settle for second. The Taron Egerton and Hugh Jackman film could only muster up $6.3 million (Race opened to $7.3 million) and it did so on a higher $23 million budget. It did earn an "A" Cinemascore from an audience that was evenly divided between men and women but ran older (75% over 25). Even with the good will, I don't expect Eddie the Eagle to fly very high, as, along with Race, is likely to top out at around $20 million, nothing more. It's too bad - maybe if either film had bothered to be released around the 2016 Olympics, one or the other (or both) might have fared a bit better.

Outside the top five: Coming in just behind Eddie the Eagle in sixth place with $6.1 million was the crime thriller Triple 9. It could leapfrog into 5th once the final numbers come in. It certainly didn't score with audiences as a "C+" Cinemascore is pretty mediocre to bad when it comes to movies. The film is likely to barely be able to top $15 million, which is too bad because out of all the films over the weekend, this one looked like it had the most promise.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens finally fell out of the top 10 after 11 weeks - which is not a record - but it still brought in $3 million - and that was enough for the film to top $925 million as it now stands at an eye-popping $926 million. I doubt any technical and effects Oscars are going to make it more appealing, but I still want it to hit $950 million.

Next week the animated Zootopia looks to top the weekend with London Has Fallen providing loud noises and Whiskey Tango Foxtrot providing the laughs. Deadpool has had an excellent run, but I don't think it will survive this onslaught.

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