Latest Movie News From Moviefone

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• 7 Reasons Why 'Deadpool' Smashed All Expectations at the Box Office
• Weekend Box Office: 'Deadpool' Annihilates Records, Shatters Expectations
• Norman Reedus Calls 'The Walking Dead' Season 6 Return the 'Most Thrilling Eight Episodes Ever'
• 12 TV Couples That Made Us Believe in True Love

7 Reasons Why 'Deadpool' Smashed All Expectations at the Box Office Posted: That "Deadpool" opened No. 1 at the box office this weekend isn't a shocker. Analysts expected it to debut with around $65 million. They were off by, you know, only about $70 million. According to estimates, the snarky, sword-happy superhero actually brought in $135.0 million from Friday to Sunday -- with a likely $150 million haul by the end of the four-day President's Day weekend. In addition to having the biggest opening weekend ever for an R-rated movie, and R-rated comic book movie (sorry, "300" and your puny $70.8 million), "Deadpool's" debut smashed all kinds of records. It's the biggest Februrary debut weekend ever (beating the $85.1 million earned a year ago by "Fifty Shades of Grey"). It's the biggest winter-season opening ever (ahead of last winter's "American Sniper," which went wide with $89.2 million in January 2015). And it's the biggest debut ever for 20th Century Fox (beating 2005's "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith," at $108.4 million). So how did predictors miss the mark by more than half? Here are some possible reasons why "Deadpool" did better than anyone anticipated. 1. An Epidemic of Underestimation Truth is, the pundits have been off their game for at least a year when it comes to surprise blockbusters. They lowballed predictions for such 2015 hits as "San Andreas," "Pitch Perfect 2," and "Straight Outta Compton." They were off by about $80 million for "Jurassic World," which broke the record for biggest opening weekend of all time, until "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" opened even bigger six months later. Why are the experts so far off? In some cases (especially "Pitch Perfect 2" and "Compton"), they ignored the hunger felt by largely underserved audiences to have a movie that didn't just appeal to them but even represented them. In some cases, the movies surprised analysts by succeeding during what are traditionally not peak moviegoing seasons. Certainly, February is usually a fallow month for moviegoing. Plus, "Deadpool" had a hard R rating, a leading man with a mixed track record at best, and no 3D surcharges. Opening on Valentine's Day weekend, "Deadpool" didn't exactly seem like an ideal date movie. So there are several reasons why experts expected the movie to do only half as well as it did. Nonetheless, "Deadpool" managed to turn many of these weaknesses into strengths. For instance... 2. R-rated Comic Book Movies are Still a Novelty To date, there have been only a handful, most of them based on less-than-mainstream titles such as "300," "Kick-Ass," "Kingsman: The Secret Service," (above) and "2 Guns." Only a few have come from well-known comic series or graphic novels, like "The Punisher," "Watchmen" and the "Blade" trilogy. "Deadpool" stepped into an empty arena full of creative possibilities, and curious audiences flocked to see how the filmmakers might exploit those freedoms. Here's hoping more studios take a risk on whatever R-rated Marvel or DC properties whose rights they hold. 3. Ryan Reynolds The former Green Lantern is generally considered talented, charming, and handsome, but he's never been a big box office draw. Most of his movies that opened well have done so with either Reynolds appearing in a rom-com, or playing second or third banana to a bigger star. His biggest opening to date in a movie he carried himself was "Green Lantern," which enjoyed a so-so $53.2 million debut on its way to becoming one of the biggest flops in recent memory (the 2011 film cost a reported $200 million and earned back just $116.6 million in North America). So it's no surprise that analysts were wary of how he'd fare carrying another superhero movie. Still, Reynolds is golden when he finds a movie that suits his raised-eyebrow sense of humor. Audiences seem to know this, and they turned out to see Reynolds be Reynolds. 4. Strong Reviews To attract the older audience it needs, it helps if an R-rated movie wins over the critics. "Deadpool" did, scoring an 82 percent rating at Rotten Tomatoes and 65 percent at Metacritic. "Deadpool" also earned an A from audiences at CinemaScore, indicating very strong word-of-mouth recommendations from viewers, both men and women. 5. Weak Competition This weekend's other two new wide releases, "How to Be Single" and "Zoolander No. 2," were both supposed to open around $20 million. Yet "Single" pulled in just an estimated $18.8 million, while "Zoolander" picked up just an estimated $15.7 million -- slightly more than the original film opened with 15 years ago. Reviews for "Single" were middling, while those for "Zoolander" were scathingly awful. Advantage: "Deadpool." 6. Valentine's Day Falling on a Sunday That's an accident of timing that's easily overlooked. But if it had fallen on a Friday, the romantic comedy "Single" would have made for a stronger date movie than it did with Valentine's Day coming at the end of the weekend. That also helped "Deadpool," which didn't have to worry about losing the couples audience on Friday night. 7. Fox's On-point Marketing Fox seems to have been teasing this movie for at least a year, with red-band trailers that played up the movie's humor, violence, and raunch. The message -- this is not your grandmother's superhero movie, unless your grandmother is Betty White -- came through loud and clear. Of course, the saturation marketing wouldn't have worked so well if critics and audiences didn't feel that "Deadpool" delivered on the hype. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Weekend Box Office: 'Deadpool' Annihilates Records, Shatters Expectations Posted: BY Lindsey Bahr, AP Film Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The R-rated "Deadpool" has taken the box office by storm, annihilating records with an eye-popping $135 million from its first three days in theaters according to comScore estimates Sunday. The Fox film, which stars Ryan Reynolds as the foul-mouthed superhero, easily trounced last year's record-setting $85.2 million February debut of the erotic drama "Fifty Shades of Grey." It also became the biggest R-rated opening ever, surpassing "The Matrix Reloaded," which opened to $91.8 million in May of 2003. Coming in a distant second was last weekend's No. 1 film "Kung Fu Panda" with $19.7 million. In third place, the Dakota Johnson and Rebel Wilson rom-com "How to Be Single" opened to $18.8 million, while the dismally reviewed Ben Stiller vehicle "Zoolander 2" debuted in fourth to only $15.7 million. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Norman Reedus Calls 'The Walking Dead' Season 6 Return the 'Most Thrilling Eight Episodes Ever' Posted: Norman Reedus is just as excited for the return of "The Walking Dead" tonight (Feb. 14, 2015) as we are. Moviefone talked to the crossbow-wielding star about his new crime drama "Triple 9," where he teased what we can expect from the next eight episodes of TWD. "Oh my God. It's the hardest, hardcore, saddest, most thrilling eight episodes ever. Ever," Reedus exclaimed. "It starts off tomorrow night just ripping your fingernails out and then by the time you get to the finale, you'll just jump off a building. It's insane." And while he couldn't reveal any specific spoilers, if it's up to Reedus, Daryl Dixon is not going anywhere any time soon: "Oh God. I'll be be 85 years old and still be playing Daryl Dixon," he grinned. "It's my favorite character ever." Tune in to "The Walking Dead" on AMC tonight, and look for our full "badass" interview about Reedus's in "Triple 9" character, closer to when the movie opens Feb. 26th. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

12 TV Couples That Made Us Believe in True Love Posted: No matter how hard we try to convince our brains that our fave TV couples are fictional, it's hard to not root for them like they're totally real. (And scream at the screen in rage when they break up. Or worse.) We have to accept that some on-screen love stories have become woven into the fabric of our lives, and season after season they've taught us life lessons about what it means to truly make a relationship last. The TV gods have blessed us with many memorable couples over the years, but these 12 twosomes take #RelationshipGoals to a whole other level. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

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