Though not quite the behemoth that Deadpool proved to be when it premiered to a staggering $132 million opening weekend, Logan is making a strong case that R-rated superhero films are in vogue. The count so far has Logan coming in with $85.3 million for the entire weekend, including late-night showings on Thursday, which would put it just a hair above the opening weekend take of Marvel's Doctor Strange from last year. One should expect Logan to arrive north of Strange's total gross of some $232 million by the end of its time in theaters, if not closer to Deadpool up in the $300 million range.

In other words, in the world of Marvel adaptations, there is now a provable metric that both giving directors like James Mangold and Tim Miller more control over a production and allowing for blood, cursing, and other darker element in a narrative is more lucrative than the kid-gloves PG-13 route. This isn't to say that this will necessarily make for a better movie: Doctor Strange is a far more visually wondrous work than Deadpool and, often enough, proved to be funnier too. But where Doctor Strange fit into an increasingly insufferable formula that renders all Marvel narratives programmatic, Logan and Deadpool both feel singular, capable of standing on their own merits if producers were to ever allow them to be more than just a volume in a franchise. Of course, that will never, ever happen.

Meanwhile, below Logan at the box office, Get Out continued it's hot streak following last weekend's victory over The LEGO Batman Movie, which now places in fourth. Get Out took in $26.1 million in its second frame, bringing it's total to some $76 million from a budget that cost under $5 million to make. In comparison, the faith-based nonsenseathon The Shack cost $26 million to make and came in with a still-admirable $16.1 million, placing in squarely in third place above LEGO Batman's $11.6 take in fourth place. John Wick: Chapter 2 rounded the top five out with $4.7 million but for me, the top two tell the story of the modern box office succinctly: an anticipated blockbuster that cost $96 million to make and needs to make a few hundred million to show a real profit, and a riskier small release made for Logan's catering budget that has already likely recouped all its expenses and then some.

Weekend Box Office: