‘Deadpool 2’ tops ‘Avengers’ but fails to surpass its predecessor

Two Josh Brolin-led Marvel movies dominated the domestic box office this weekend, led by 20th Century Fox’s “Deadpool 2.�

“It’s Deadpool’s world and we’re just living in it,� said Chris Aronson, the studio’s president of distribution.

The film opened in first place with $125 million, the second biggest debut for an R-rated film ever, though below analysts’ predictions of $130 million to $150 million.

A sequel to 2016’s mega-successful “Deadpool,� the film failed to beat the original’s opening weekend haul of $132.4 million, which Aronson says may be because of the original’s holiday-weekend launch.

“I don’t want anyone to lose sight of the fact that we opened the original on a huge moviegoing weekend that included Valentine’s Day on Sunday and Presidents Day on Monday,� Aronson said. “It was one of those strange weekends where the calendar conspired to have both of those moviegoing days in the same weekend. So the fact that we’re in a non-holiday weekend and we’re only 5.5% behind, we’re not alarmed at all. In fact we’re extremely heartened.�

Starring Ryan Reynolds as the titular “merc with the mouth,� “Deadpool 2� cost an estimated $110 million to produce and stars Brolin as the film’s villain, Cable.

Also starring “Atlanta� star Zazie Beetz as Domino, the film earned positive reviews from audiences and critics with an A rating on CinemaScore and an 83% “fresh� rating on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes.

Bumped from the top spot for the first time in four weeks, Disney’s “Avengers: Infinity War� came in second, adding an additional $28.7 million in ticket sales for a cumulative $595 million.

The film, which also features Brolin in the villain role as Thanos, took in $113.1 million worldwide this weekend, for a global cumulative of $1.8 billion, making it the No. 4 global release of all-time.

“I think it comes down to the characters and storytelling,� said Aronson of the bankability of Marvel films. “I think the [superhero] genre may be separated from traditional movies but I think the characters and storytelling are similar. And I think ‘Deadpool’ supplies both of those in huge amounts.�

Paramount Pictures’ “Book Club� opened in third place with $12.5 million, above analysts’ prediction of $9 million.

A comedy about a group of women whose love lives are affected by their reading of the S&M novel “Fifty Shades of Grey,� the film stars Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen. It earned an A- rating on CinemaScore and a 58% “rotten� rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

In fourth place, Warner Bros.’ “Life of the Party� added $7.7 million in its second weekend in theaters, for a cumulative $31 million in ticket sales.

Rounding out the top five, Universal’s “Breaking In� drew $6.5 million in its second weekend, for a to-date average of $28.7 million.

Also new this week, Global Road Entertainment’s “Show Dogs� came in at No. 6 with $6 million in earnings.

A PG-rated canine comedy, “Show Dogs� follows a Rottweiler who goes on an undercover police mission at a fancy dog show. The film came within range of analysts’ predictions of $5 million to $9 million and earned an A- rating on CinemaScore and a 26% “rotten� rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Next week, Buena Vista and Disney will premiere “Solo: A Star Wars Story� for Memorial Day weekend.

[email protected]

follow me on twitter @sonaiyak

UPDATES:

10:30 a.m.: This article was updated with comments from 20th Century Fox’s president of distribution.

This article was originally published at 9:40 a.m.