'Deadpool 2' dethrones 'Infinity War' with a $125 million opening and breaks single-day box office record for an R-rated movie

Fox

"Deadpool 2."

• "Deadpool 2" took in an estimated $125 million over the weekend.
• The movie broke the record for highest-grossing opening day for an R-rated movie with $53.3 million on Friday.
  

"Deadpool 2" proved that the record-breaking success of the original in 2016 was not a fluke as the movie took in an estimated $125 million at the domestic box office over the weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The latest adventure from Marvel's most crude superhero wasn't able to beat the original movie's $132.4 million opening, which will remain the highest-grossing opening weekend of all time for an R-rated movie.

But it took in $53.3 million on Friday to break the record for biggest opening day for an R movie, surpassing last year's hit, "It" ($50.4 million).

"Deadpool 2" pulled off this performance by living up to the lofty expectations of the franchise that came from Ryan Reynolds' depiction of the Merc With a Mouth in the first movie, who wasn't just a foul-mouthed hitman but was also armed with loads of meta jokes.

The sequel didn't just have timely jokes, but more ultraviolent action than the first movie and a whole lot of Easter eggs. That led to the movie earning an 83% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. And it also helped that its studio, 20th Century Fox, put the movie on a whopping 4,349 screens.

The performance by Deadpool finally dethroned the top box office performer for the last three weeks, "Avengers: Infinity War." The Marvel title from Disney/Marvel Studios came in second place with $29 million. That puts the movie's domestic total at close to $600 million.

And coming in third place with an impressive $12 million to $13 million is Paramount's "Book Club." Geared toward the older crowd with a cast headlined by Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen, the movie looks to exceeded the $9 million to $10 million industry projections thrown at it going into the weekend.