After wiping out Disney's superheroes as Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, Josh Brolin [JBROL] comes after Fox’s R-rated superhero as Cable in Deadpool 2 [DEAD2]. Ryan Reynolds [RREYN] is back in his iconic role of the fourth-wall breaking Deadpool. The first film surprised Hollywood with the highest R-rated opening at $132.4 million in 2016. Marketing for the sequel began before it even went into production with a short attached to Logan March of last year. The campaign has seemingly gone non-stop as Reynolds worked tirelessly on the promotional trail with one viral stunt after another. Fox has deftly sold Deadpool 2 as an unconventional movie where anything can happen. Reviews have backed up the hype and pumped up the buzz. Advance ticket sales have been going gangbusters. Opening at a record 4349 theaters for an R-rated film, Deadpool 2 is likely to set a new record with upwards of $152 million.
Avengers: Infinity War [AVNG3] is poised to cross the $600 million mark with a fourth weekend around $31 million.
Paramount counter-programs the weekend with the PG-13 rated romantic comedy Book Club [BKCLB]. The veteran starpower and decent reviews should appeal to its lone demographic, older women. Book Club could collect $10 million from 2781 theaters.
Melissa McCarthy’s The Boss tumbled 58% last year. Life of the Party [LFOPT] is likely to drop more than 50% to $8.5 million.
Global Road targets families with the PG-rated comedy Show Dogs [SHWDG]. Will Arnett [WARNE] toplines opposite a bunch of talking dogs with low-brow humor. Placed in 3145 theaters, Show Dogs may win $8 million.
Like previous thrillers targeted at African-Americans, Breaking In [BRKIN] should fall more than 55% to around $7.5 million in its second weekend.
That’s the whisper on the virtual trading floor.
Tag(s): JBROL, DEAD2, RREYN, AVNG3, BKCLB, LFOPT, SHWDG, WARNE, BRKIN