February 14, 2016 – AssociatedNews.info

Entertainment February 14, 2016

'Deadpool' Nabs Record for Biggest R-rated Opening Ever

Break out the chimichangas — with $135 million at the box office in its first three days, the R-rated Deadpool has not only smashed all President’s weekend records, but it also now holds the record for highest R-rated opening ever. And not just by a little, either. The previous R-rated record holder belonged to The Matrix Reloaded ($91 million), which was a summer release.

That makes Deadpool’s record $135 million all the more special, as no film has ever snagged those kinds of numbers in February. Heck, no February film has ever managed to open to $100 million, period. And with Monday being a holiday, box office experts expect Deadpool to reach upwards of $150 million for the four-day when all is said and done.

So what does this all mean? Will every superhero movie from now on come with an R rating?

No, not quite. Disney won’t make an R-rated superhero movie, so you can count out Marvel Studios and any character associated with the Avengers. But we expect Fox to go all-in on an R-rated cinematic universe, though for starters they’ll probably stick to movies that revolve around Deadpool — like the already-announced Deadpool sequel and possibly even an X-Force movie, too.

This is a big deal for the superhero genre, and for 2016 in general as it represents a year where studios will take bigger risks with their comic properties. The big question now is… will Fox tweak any of the X-Men properties with a higher rating? Perhaps Wolverine 3?

What do you think?

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Sports February 14, 2016

Hats Off To A Tale Of Good Sportsmanship

1:05

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Rachel Martin pauses to note a story from a New Jersey swim meet. It’s about good sportsmanship and losing gracefully.

Transcript

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Last month in New Jersey, the Monroe High School swimming team broke a record that had stood for 14 years, 51.3 seconds in the 100-meter backstroke. An individual record, which makes sense because there’s only one person on Monroe’s team. His name is Rich Fortels. And since Monroe doesn’t really have a team for him, Fortels didn’t have a team swimming cap to wear in the Greater Middlesex Conference championships, so he wore one from the club team he swims on with the club’s logo on it. But that’s against the rules of the National Federation of State High School Associations. Someone pointed it out, and the medal went to runner-up Michael Spark, who finished three seconds behind Fortels. Well, Sparks didn’t agree so Monday, he went to Monroe High. Here’s what he said to the website mycentraljersey.com.

MICHAEL SPARK: The cap wasn’t enhancing his performance in any way. He beat me because he trained harder than me. He just out-swam me.

MARTIN: And with that, Michael Spark passed the first place medal to Rich Fortels, a win for sportsmanship.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “ALL-STAR”)

SMASH MOUTH: (Singing) Hey now, you’re an all-star. Get your game on, go play. Hey now, you’re a rock star. Get the show on, get paid. All that glitters is gold. Only shooting stars break the mold.

MARTIN: Our theme music was written by B.J. Leiderman, and you are listening to WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio.