LOS ANGELES » Christians, witches and a barrier-breaking track star were no match for the foul-mouthed superhero of Marvel’s “Deadpool.” The Fox picture grossed an estimated $55 million in the U.S. and Canada to land atop the box office for a second straight week.

With such numbers, “Deadpool,” which stars Ryan Reynolds, met the lower end of analyst expectations, following its record-setting debut over the long Presidents-Valentine’s Day weekend, when it drew $150 million in domestic ticket sales ($132 million in its first three days). That easily made it the biggest opening for an R-rated film in North America.

“Deadpool” has pulled in an estimated $235.4 million domestically, along with a strong international showing. The worldwide total stands at $491.9 million, all of which is impressive given its relatively low $58 million production budget.

Landing in second place and beating three new releases was DreamWorks Animation’s holdover “Kung Fu Panda 3.” Four weeks since its debut, the animated feature pulled in an additional estimated $12.5 million. Its estimated gross is $117.1 million domestically.

Faring the best of the new releases was “Risen,” from Sony Pictures’ Affirm label, which took the third spot. With a budget of about $20 million, the biblical epic met analyst expectations of $10 million to $15 million, with $11.8 million in ticket sales.

“We’re very, very happy with our results,” said Rory Bruer, Sony’s head of distribution. “This certainly is a genre, with regards to faith-based films, that we’ve embraced it and it’s a big part of our DNA now.”

Starring Joseph Fiennes (“Shakespeare in Love”), “Risen” tells the story of two Romans trying to find out what happened to the body of Jesus when his tomb is discovered empty after the Crucifixion.

True to the history of other religious films that have courted a specific audience, those who saw “Risen” liked it, giving it an A-minus grade, according to polling firm CinemaScore. Critics, however, were more split, with only 59 percent rating the picture favorably on Rotten Tomatoes.

A24’s “The Witch” debuted in fourth place with an estimated $8.7 million in the widest release ever for the studio best known for critically acclaimed pictures such as “Ex Machina” and “Room.”

Released in 1,800 theaters and targeting horror genre fans, the favorite from last year’s Sundance Film Festival came in below analyst projections of $10 million. It did, however, exceed the studio’s extremely modest forecast of $3 million.

“The Witch” follows a family in 1630s New England besieged by forces of black magic. It was written and directed by Robert Eggers and was acquired by A24 for $1 million.

Audiences and critics were split — while Rotten Tomatoes critics overwhelmingly rated it positively (88 percent), moviegoers gave “The Witch” a C-minus CinemaScore.

Performing the worst of the new releases was Focus Features’ “Race,” which took the sixth spot behind Warner Bros.’ “How to Be Single’s” $8.2 million. The biopic of track and field legend Jesse Owens garnered $7.3 million, coming in just shy of analysts’ $8 million projections.

Stephan James of “Selma” plays the famed African-American athlete who faces off against the racism of Adolf Hitler’s Germany during the 1936 Olympics.

Audiences gave the movie a CinemaScore of A, while 60 percent of Rotten Tomatoes critics rated it positively.

This week, the field becomes more crowded with three additional new releases opening widely: Fox’s “Eddie the Eagle,” Open Road Films’ “Triple 9” and Lionsgate’s “Gods of Egypt,” which came under fire last year after promotional posters and a trailer were released revealing that the cast consisted of primarily white people playing characters set in the African country. The studio and director apologized for the casting.

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©2016 Los Angeles Times