Fox’s Deadpool continued to lead the box office with ease this weekend with a third weekend take of $31.12 million. The Ryan Reynolds led blockbuster antihero film stabilized nicely this weekend, as the film was down a very respectable 45 percent. Deadpool is approaching the $300 million domestic mark with a massive 17-day gross of $285.25 million. That places the film an extremely impressive 50.5 percent ahead of the $189.56 million 17-day take of 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past (which fell 53 percent in its third weekend to gross $15.15 million). With the release of Disney’s highly anticipated Zootopia on Friday, this will obviously be the last weekend in first place for Deadpool.
In other Marvel related news from Fox, on Saturday evening Fox announced that Gambit no longer has a currently scheduled release date. And while Fox didn’t officially announce a release date for a Deadpool sequel, the studio did schedule untitled Marvel films for release on October 6, 2017 and on January 12, 2018.
Lionsgate’s Gods of Egypt debuted in second place with $14.12 million. While the expensive action fantasy film featuring Gerard Butler and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau opened towards the higher end of its relatively modest expectations, the film still performed very poorly with both its high price tag and the action fantasy genre in mind. Months of largely negative pre-release buzz was simply too much for Gods of Egypt to overcome this weekend and poor critical reviews and the continued strength of Deadpool didn’t help matters either. Gods of Egypt opened 56 percent below the $32.21 million start of 2011’s Immortals.
Gods of Egypt started out with $4.78 million on Friday (which included an estimated $800,000 from Thursday night shows), increased 17 percent on Saturday to take in $5.61 million and declined 33 percent on Sunday to gross $3.74 million. That placed the film’s opening weekend to Friday ratio at 2.96 to 1. Gods of Egypt received a modest B- rating on CinemaScore and currently has a Flixster audience score of just 49 percent. Gerard Butler will hope to see much stronger results next weekend with the release of Focus’ London Has Fallen.
Kung Fu Panda 3 claimed third place this weekend with $8.90 million. The 3D computer animated sequel from Fox and DreamWorks Animation was down a very healthy 29 percent from last weekend, as the film appears to have received a boost this weekend from family audiences who wanted to catch it before Zootopia arrives in the marketplace next weekend. The 31-day total for Kung Fu Panda 3 stands at $128.35 million, which places the film 13 percent behind the $148.18 million 31-day take of last year’s Hotel Transylvania 2.
Risen followed in fourth place with $6.82 million. The faith-based film from Sony’s AFFIRM Films label starring Joseph Fiennes was down a solid 42 percent from last weekend’s debut. Risen has grossed $22.52 million in ten days, which is towards the higher end of expectations. That places the film a strong 35 percent ahead of the $16.68 million ten-day take of 2014’s When the Game Stands Tall (which fell 28 percent in its second weekend to gross $6.01 million). Risen will hope to hold up well between now and Easter, though before much longer the film will be facing new direct competition from fellow faith-based films The Young Messiah and Miracles from Heaven.
Triple 9 debuted in fifth place with a very lackluster $6.11 million. The ensemble crime drama from Open Road opened below expectations and failed to live up to the relatively high online activity levels the film had generated in the weeks leading up to its release. Triple 9 represents another disappointing performance for Open Road, with other recent misfires for the distributor including last year’s Rock the Kasbah and last month’s Fifty Shades of Black. Triple 9 opened 53.5 percent below the $13.15 million start of 2012’s End of Watch (which was also an Open Road release). Triple 9 took in $2.15 million on Friday, was up 12 percent on Saturday to gross $2.40 million and fell 35 percent on Sunday to claim $1.56 million. That placed the film’s opening weekend to Friday ratio at 2.85 to 1. Triple 9 received a soft C+ rating on CinemaScore and currently has a Flixster audience score of 51 percent; neither of which is a good sign for the film going forward.
Fox’s Eddie the Eagle followed very closely behind in sixth with $6.08 million. The sports comedy starring Taron Egerton and Hugh Jackman opened just below its already modest pre-release expectations. Despite aid from a Super Bowl ad and the strongest critical reviews of the weekend’s three new wide releases, moviegoers simply weren’t very interested in Eddie the Eagle out of the gate. The film opened with $1.94 million on Friday, increased a strong 43 percent on Saturday to take in $2.78 million and decreased 49 percent on Sunday to gross $1.37 million. That gave Eddie the Eagle an opening weekend to Friday ratio of 3.14 to 1, which is a promising early sign. Furthermore, Eddie the Eagle received a strong A rating on CinemaScore and currently boasts a healthy 88 percent audience score on Flixster, so it is possible that the film could hold up well going forward thanks to highly positive word of mouth.
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