Weekend Box Office Report: May 18-20, 2018

Deadpool 2 explodes in first!

Ryan Reynolds' masked motormouth blasted his way back to theaters this weekend and put DEADPOOL 2 on top at the box office with an estimated opening of $125 million!

Marvel's mutated mercenary and his new pals/enemies couldn't quite get to the gobsmacking $132 launch of the original DEADPOOL on Valentine's Day weekend in February 2016, but the second madcap adventure still managed to set records for best opening of a comedy sequel, and biggest opening day for an R-rated release ($53 million on Friday).

The profanity-packed, bullet-riddled X-franchise spinoff (from JOHN WICK co-director David Leitch) did manage to pull in more than the $123 million opening of Stephen King's IT, giving it the second-biggest R-rated opening weekend.

DEADPOOL 2 cost a reported $110 million (nearly double the first movie's $58 million spend), and yoinked an additional $176.3 million from international crowds for a worldwide opening of $301.3 million.

Most critics were up for the endless barrage of ammunition, sarcasm and pop-culture references, giving the sequel an average of 83% on Rotten Tomatoes. Shoot over to the JoBlo review HERE.

The chatty costumed killer kicked AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR to second place after its three-week reign at the top. Marvel's super-sized struggle clutched $28.6 million over the weekend for a domestic total nearing $600 million.

The impactful clash with Thanos is up to a whopping $1.81 billion worldwide total, zipping past the $1.67 billion finish of JURASSIC WORLD for the fourth-highest global total ever.

Opening in third place was the new PG-13 comedy BOOK CLUB with $12.5 million.

The adult alternative with veteran stars Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen only cost a reported $10 million. Critics weren't completely crazy for the elder romcom, giving it a 58% average on Rotten Tomatoes.

Melissa McCarthy's latest comedy LIFE OF THE PARTY moved to fourth with $7.7 million, losing 57% of business from its second-place debut last week for a ten-day domestic total of $31 million (the PG-13 return to college cost a reported $30 million).

The Gabrielle Union home-invasion thriller BREAKING IN was in fifth place with $6.4 million, slashed by 63% from last weekend's opening. The PG-13 release has a ten-day domestic total of $28.7 million on a reported $6 million cost.

In sixth place was the new family feature SHOW DOGS with an opening of $6 million.

The PG-rated talking-canine comedy with Will Arnett (from SCOOBY DOO and THE SMURFS director Raja Gosnell) got delivered to the pound by critics with a 26% Rotten Tomatoes average.

OVERBOARD was in seventh with $4.7 million, bringing the Anna Faris/Eugenio Derbez romcom remake to $36.9 million domestic on its third weekend in theaters. Muted thriller A QUIET PLACE followed in eighth with $4 million as the John Krasinski/Emily Blunt survival tale has reached nearly $300 million worldwide after seven weeks.

Closing out the list was Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's RAMPAGE in ninth with $1.5 million, and the Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic RBG held tenth with $1.2 million.

Outside the chart, Marvel's BLACK PANTHER finally departed the Top 10 after three months clawing to nearly $700 million domestic. The Charlize Theron comedy-drama TULLY and Amy Schumer's I FEEL PRETTY went into the sunset with T'Challa.

In limited release, the Ethan Hawke priest drama FIRST REFORMED (from director Paul Schrader) got some attention with a $25k per-screen average, and the 50th anniversary 70mm release of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY tripped through the cosmos with a $50k per-screen average.

Next weekend takes a look at the early life of everyone's favorite Corellian smuggler in SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY.

Which Star Wars character would you most like to see get their own spinoff/prequel? VOTE HERE!