Weekend Box Office: 'Deadpool 2' Topples 'Infinity War' With $125M U.S. Debut

Superheroes continued to dominate the box office as Ryan Reynolds and 20th Century Fox's Deadpool 2 debuted to $125 million domestically.

After falling off more than expected on Saturday, the sequel couldn't match the debut of the first Deadpool, which opened to $132.4 million in February 2016, the best showing in history for an R-rated title. Nevertheless, Deadpool 2 still scored the third-best domestic opening of the year to date behind fellow superhero tentpoles Avengers: Infinity War and Black Panther, as well as the No. 2 launch ever for an R-rated film.

Deadpool 2 — hitting theaters as the Fox film empire prepares for the Disney/21st Century Fox merger — easily toppled superhero mashup Infinity War from the top spot. Infinity War was no slouch, however, grossing $28.7 million in its third weekend to finish Sunday with a North American total of $585 million. Overseas, the Disney and Marvel Studios' blockbuster earned another $84.4 million, fueled by a $53.7 million from China, for a foreign title of $1.218 billion and global hual of $1.813 billion.
Thanks in large part to the strength of the two superhero titles, domestic revenue was up a staggering 64 percent over the same weekend last year, when new openers included Alien: Covenant.

Playing in a total of 4,349 theaters in North America — the widest release in Fox history — Deadpool 2 was frontloaded. It earned a massive $18.6 million in Thursday-evening previews, followed by a $53 million Friday, the top opening day for an R-rated movie. Like Deadpool, the sequel earned an A CinemaScore .

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