Box Office: 'Zootopia' Takes Top Spot With Record Breaking Opening, 'Deadpool' Crosses $300 Million

While the R-rated "Deadpool" dominated the box office for the past three weeks, the demographic pendulum swung all the way in other direction as the superhero film was finally knocked out of the top spot.

Disney‘s "Zootopia," which was already doing very strong numbers overseas, opened domestically, and broke Walt Disney Animation Studio‘s three-day opening record, hauling in $73.7 million. It’s the ninth largest animated opening ever, set the record for the biggest animated March opening of all time, and you can chalk it up to a combination of good reviews coupled with being in the right place at the right time. With nothing else out there for families at the multiplex, the audience was clearly ready for something to bring the kids to, and Disney delivered. And the film’s solid A-grade Cinemascore likely means some very good legs for this one which has already earned over $230 million in total worldwide.

Rolling into second place was "London Has Fallen," taking in a solid, but not quite remarkable $21.7 million. That’s a full third off the $30 million debut of its predecessor, "Olympus Has Fallen," but the sequel was reportedly made at a smaller budget. If it follows the trajectory of the first film, ‘London’ will finish with a bit over $60 million domestic, with a smaller figure internationally. This perhaps suggests the audience for the franchise hasn’t expanded in the years since ‘Olympus,’ and the further adventures of Mike Banning may not be forthcoming.

Also going wide this weekend was Tina Fey‘s "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot," which opened under expectations at $7.6 million, but it might be too early to call this one a disappointment. At Christmas, the actress teamed with pal Amy Poehler for "Sisters," which also opened in fourth place, taking in $12 million, but quietly legged out to $86 million domestic. Like ‘Whiskey,’ that film also had a B-grade Cinemascore, and was budgeted in $30 million range, so we’ll see if it can do the same here.

"Deadpool" dropped down to third place this weekend, but not without crossing $300 million, joining "Passion Of The Christ" and "American Sniper" as the only R-rated films to ever hit that mark domestically. Internationally, the film has now tallied just over $670 million.

In limited release, 20th Century Fox‘s horror, "The Other Side Of The Door," arrived in just over 500 cinemas and took $1.2 million. It was far outside the top ten, so anyone who is curious to watch the movie has likely already seen it, while everyone else will catch up with it on Netflix. In four cinemas, Terrence Malick‘s star-studded "Knight Of Cups" debuted to a modest $56,688, for a $14,172 per screen average. By comparison, 2013’s "To The Wonder" opened on seventeen screens to $116,551, but only a $6,856 PSA. Either way you slice it, Malick is playing solely to devotees, and the allure of the auteur in hiding, returning with his new great opus circa "The Tree Of Life" (which had a $93,000 per screen average across four screens in 2011), has long since faded. Lastly, Sundance-winning doc "Trapped" opened on three screens, taking in $20,385, for a PSA of $6,795.

1. “Zootopia” — $73.7 million
2. “London Has Fallen” — $21.7 million
3. “Deadpool” — $16.4 million ($311.1 mil.)
4. “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” — $7.6 million
5. “Gods Of Egypt” — $5 million ($22.8 mil.)
6. “Risen” — $3.8 million ($28.6 mil.)
7. “Kung Fu Panda 3” — $3.5 million ($133.8 mil.)
8. “The Revenant” — $3.3 million ($175.9 mil.)
9. “Eddie The Eagle” — $3.1 million ($10.6 mil.)
10. “The Witch” — $2.5 million ($20.9 mil.)