‘Deadpool’ tops charts yet again as 'Reagan' beats expectations on sluggish Labor Day weekend

Just like in the movies, Deadpool can’t be killed.

“Deadpool & Wolverine,” one of the defining movies of the summer, ruled the box office on a weekend with quiet openings and low theater attendance as the summer movie season came to an anticlimactic close.

For the second weekend in a row, “Deadpool & Wolverine,” Marvel’s smash hit that has shattered records and become the best-selling R-rated movie of all time, topped the charts, with other holdovers from the summer following behind. After six weeks in theaters, the film made $15.2 million domestically Friday through Sunday, and it’s expected to cross the domestic $600 million mark following Monday’s Labor Day holiday. The Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman superhero flick will be one of only 16 titles to hit that milestone.

“Reagan,” a biopic starring Dennis Quaid as the 40th U.S. president, was the only new release competitive with holdover films that opened earlier this summer. Exceeding projections, the first full-length film about President Ronald Reagan earned $7.4 million over the three-day weekend, with an estimated cumulative total of $9.2 million including projections for Monday.

Audiences have reacted to the movie positively, giving it an A CinemaScore and a 98% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics have been less receptive, giving it a 19% rating and deeming it rotten on the popular ratings site. It ranked No. 4 on the charts.

In a reprise from last weekend, “Alien: Romulus” placed second, earning $9.3 million from Friday through Sunday. The sci-fi horror film directed by Fede Álvarez and starring Cailee Spaeny, Isabela Merced and David Jonsson, has earned $88.8 million domestically.

“It Ends With Us” ranked No. 3 for the third consecutive weekend, earning just over $7.4 million with a slight edge over “Reagan.” The Sony movie starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, who also directed, is projected to reach a domestic total of $136 million after the weekend.

In a surprise bump, “Twisters” rounded out the top five with $7.2 million in its seventh week in theaters. Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones star in the standalone sequel to the 1996 hit “Twister.”

“Afraid,” a horror-thriller with an AI villain, made $3.7 million in one of the weekend’s modest openings, with Sony projecting $4.5 million in earnings through Monday. It came in ninth place in weekend rankings. The Blumhouse Productions and Colombia Pictures release follows John Cho and Katherine Waterston as a couple whose family is chosen to test a new AI assistant. Unsurprisingly, the technology spins out of control and threatens the lives of the family and those around them.

In another quiet opening, “1992,” which centers on a turbulent Los Angeles amid deadly riots during the titular year, made a meager $1.4 million Friday through Sunday, with distributor Lionsgate projecting that total will bump up to $1.6 million after Labor Day. The film stars Tyrese Gibson, Scott Eastwood and Ray Liotta.

The drama is the third sluggish opening Lionsgate has seen at the unofficial end of summer. The video game adaptation “Borderlands” and a remake of “The Crow” both underperforming in August.

“Slingshot,” another new sci-fi release starring Laurence Fishburne and Casey Affleck, opened with $485,282 across 845 screens. Distributor Bleecker Street estimates the movie will reach $572,763 cumulatively after the holiday.

This image released by ShowBiz Direct shows Dennis Quaid in a scene from "Reagan." (Noah Hamilton/ShowBiz Direct via AP)

This image released by ShowBiz Direct shows Dennis Quaid in a scene from "Reagan." (Ron Batzdorff/ShowBiz Direct via AP)

This image released by ShowBiz Direct shows Dennis Quaid in a scene from "Reagan." (ShowBiz Direct via AP)

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — England and English soccer teams could be removed from UEFA competitions if a new regulator is considered to be “Government interference” in the sport.

In a letter sent by UEFA to the U.K.'s new culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, European soccer's governing body raised concerns about a proposed independent football regulator (IFR) in English soccer. The regulatory will ensure the financial sustainability of clubs and stop teams from joining breakaway competitions like the European Super League.

UEFA regulations state there should be no government interference in the running of soccer.

“We have specific rules that guard against this in order to guarantee the autonomy of sport and fairness of sporting competition; the ultimate sanction for which would be excluding the federation from UEFA and teams from competition,” UEFA general secretary Theodore Theodoridis wrote in his letter, which has been seen by The Associated Press.

England, which has been runner-up in the last two European Championships, is co-hosting the 2028 edition of the tournament.

If UEFA imposed its ultimate sanction of excluding the English Football Association, the England team would be barred from competing in the Euros. It could also mean Premier League clubs being barred from the Champions League and other competitions.

The U.K. government’s Football Governance Bill would give an independent regulator powersto safeguard the future of clubs. It includes strengthened tests over who can run or own clubs.

In its letter, UEFA said “normally football regulation should be managed by the national federation.”

It said it was concerned by what it described as “scope creep” by a regulator into areas beyond “the long-term financial sustainability of clubs and heritage assets.”

UEFA said if all countries established regulators with wide-reaching powers it would hinder its ability to maintain effective governance across Europe. It wants England's regulator to be “strictly limited” to the long-term financial sustainability of clubs and heritage assets.

James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

FILE - The UEFA Euro trophy is pictured after Britain and Ireland were elected to host the Euro 2028 football tournament during the the UEFA EURO 2028 and 2032 hosts announcement ceremony after the UEFA Executive Committee, at UEFA Headquarters, in Nyon, Switzerland, Oct. 10, 2023. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP, File)