While Hollywood honors the finest films of 2015 tonight, at the box office, audiences are celebrating a red-suited superhero armed with a couple of guns, some swords, and a very foul mouth. For the third straight week, 20th Century Fox is buying the drinks the at the bar, as "Deadpool" remains at the top of the box office.
The film, which continues to perform beyond any and all expectations, netted another $31.5 million domestically, bringing the stateside tally to $285 million. The figure now makes it the third highest-grossing R-rated film in history, with "American Sniper" ($350 million) and "Passion Of The Christ" ($370 million) sitting ahead of it, and if the picture continues to face weak competition, it will certainly make a run for those numbers. Internationally, the film has now crossed nearly $610 million, and when all is said and done, it could end up crossing $800 million.
Things were less rosy for Lionsgate, who earned the distinction of having the first major flop of the year, with their $140 million "Gods Of Egypt" tanking with $14 million from over 3,000 screens. However, the studio was already getting ahead of the story last week, saying they’re only on the hook for $10 million, due to Australian tax rebates from the film’s production, combined with foreign pre-sales. However, even those international markets that picked up the movie wound up feeling the burn. The mythological epic only netted a mere $24.2 million overseas. Basically, it’s up to China to give "Gods Of Egypt" any kind of box office oomph, and the picture opens there in two weeks.
Meanwhile, the insanely stacked cast of Casey Affleck, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kate Winslet, Clifton Collins, Jr., Gal Gadot, Woody Harrelson, Anthony Mackie, Teresa Palmer, Aaron Paul, and Norman Reedus couldn’t convince many to buy a ticket to John Hillcoat‘s gritty cop flick, "Triple 9." It earned $6.1 million from 2,200 screens, while on 2,000 screens, Taron Egerton and Hugh Jackman edged the picture with $6.3 million for their inspirational sports movie, "Eddie The Eagle." The good news for both movies is that their modest budgets likely means Open Road and 20th Century Fox won’t be stung too hard in the end.
This weekend also marks an occasion for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens": after eleven weeks, it has finally dropped out of the top ten at the box office. But going home with $926 million domestic, and a total worldwide haul of just over $2 billion, ain’t too shabby.
Overseas, studios got rolling on some movies early. Disney‘s "Zootopia" has now spent two weeks in theaters internationally, with $80 million to show for it so far. Meanwhile, Sacha Baron Cohen‘s "The Brothers Grimsby" hit the U.K. and sixteen markets this weekend, earning a modest $3.7 million.
1. “Deadpool” — $31.5 million ($285 mil.)
2. “Gods Of Egypt” — $14 million
3. “Kung Fu Panda 3” — $9 million ($128.4 mil.)
4. “Risen” — $7 million ($22.7 mil.)
5. “Eddie The Eagle” — $6.3 million
6. “Triple 9” — $6.1 million
7. “How To Be Single” — $5.1 million ($39.6 mil.)
8. “The Witch” — $5 million ($16.6 mil.)
9. “Race” — $4.2 million ($13.8 mil.)
10. “The Revenant” — $3.8 million ($170 mil.)
