‘Deadpool’ takes top spot again with $31.5 million

The foul-mouthed assassin made quick work of new release “Gods of Egypt”, the whitewashed period piece that placed second in the weekend’s box-office race.

As for next week, Gerard Butler has a chance at redemption with “London Has Fallen”.

A group of ancient Egyptian deities couldn’t take down the merch with a mouth.

It doesn’t look like Lionsgate will lose too much off Gods of Egypt, having taken a 46% production incentive from the Australian government for shooting in the country and greater worldwide pre-sales, making the studio’s exposure on the budget under $10 million. The film is shaping up to be one of the year’s biggest flops, all but guaranteeing there won’t be a part two.

“I think we’ll probably have to wait until Batman v Superman to see another massive opening weekend”.

Lionsgate positioned the film as the first of a new franchise.

The Ryan Reynolds film, which offered a bawdier and more libertine take on comic book fare, has beaten even Fox’s upbeat predictions to become one of the year’s strongest performers. It cost $23 million to make.

Analysts speculated that a glut of films is crowding the market.

“We’re hoping that people will discover this film”, said Aronson.

“Kung Fu Panda 3” and “Risen” were in third and fourth place over the weekend with $9 million and $7 million, respectively, according to comScore.

The film opened behind Deadpool (which has now crossed 0 million worldwide).

Other newcomers that failed to topple Deadpool in the U.S. this weekend included the feel-good Olympic tale Eddie the Eagle (which opens in Australia on April 21) in fifth place with $8.8 million and the heist romp Triple 9 (which opens in Australia on March 3) in sixth place with $8.5 million.

Sixty-seven percent of the film’s domestic gross has come post-Oscar nominations, the largest bump of any of the Oscar nominees.