‘Twisters’ whips up $80.5 million at box office, while ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ looms

AP Film Writer

Moviegoers ran toward the tornadoes this weekend, propelling “Twisters” to a blockbuster opening. The standalone sequel to the 1996 hit made $80.5 million in ticket sales from 4,151 theaters in North America, according to studio estimates Sunday. That’s about $30 million more than analysts expected initially. It opened last weekend in some markets internationally and continued its expansion this weekend. Universal also had the No. 2 movie in the country with “Despicable Me 4,” now in its third weekend. It added $23.8 million, bringing its domestic total to $259.5 million. Third place went to “Inside Out 2.”