Weekend Box Office: Deadpool Has Huge Opening Weekend, Destroys Records

Everyone expected Deadpool to be the top movie over the Presidents Day weekend, but no one expected the R-rated superhero movie to shatter records. But that's just what it did, and it proved that a comic book movie aimed directly at adults can still attract big audiences to theaters.

Deadpool's performance was nowhere near predictions, which had the film earning about $70 million for the weekend. Instead, it pulled in $135 million by the end of Sunday and will likely take in $150 or more by the time the Presidents Day holiday is over. That not only doubles the predictions, but it's also almost twice the movie's relatively small $58 million production budget.

The week's other two movies came in third and fourth place. Dakota Johnson's How To Be Single took in $18.75 million, which was in line with expectation's, and Ben Stiller's Zoolander 2 was close behind with $15.7 million. Holdover Kung Fu Panda 3 had a solid third weekend and grabbed second place with earnings of $19.7 million.

Deadpool's opening weekend ever for a February release and the biggest opening for an R-rated film. It's also the biggest opening of star Ryan Reynold's career and the biggest for the film's director, Tim Miller.