HOLLYWOOD—After three weeks on top, Marvel’s “Avengers: Infinity War” was dethroned from the top spot at the box-office by another comic book superhero or shall I say anti-hero. Ryan Reynolds and “Deadpool 2” debuted to a massive $125 million during opening weekend in theaters. That is not only impressive because it’s a superhero, but because it’s an R-rated film. Its predecessor holds the record for the largest opening for an R-rated film ever, and I really don’t see it giving up that title anytime soon. I mean if a horror flick like “IT” can earn $123 million, it’s a telling sign of the things that have changed in our society.
On a global scale, “Deadpool 2” has already earned $300 million. Now rather the flick can outperform “Solo: A Star Wars Story” during Memorial Day Weekend is debatable, but I don’t think “Solo” is going to do the numbers that so many people predict. Nabbing second place was “Infinity War” with just over $28 million. After about month in theaters, the third chapter in the franchise is only $5 million away from crossing the $600 million mark at the domestic box-office. The comedy “Book Club” debuted in third place with a meek $12.5 million. With an all-star cast that includes Oscar-winners Jane Fonda and Diane Keaton that is not a good sign of longevity for the comedy.
The Melissa McCarthy comedy “Life of the Party” dropped to fourth place with $7.7 million to bring its domestic tally to $31 million. Rounding out the top five was the action-thriller “Breaking In” starring Gabrielle Union with $6.5 million. So Memorial Day Weekend used to be a big time at the box-office, but it seems in 2018 everyone is scared to compete against “Solo: A Star Wars Story.” We’ll find out Monday just how intrigued audiences were with the new flick and rather “Deadpool 2” was more competition than expected.
