Box Office: Melissa McCarthy and 'The Boss' Narrowly Beat 'Batman v Superman'

By Brent Lang
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) - Melissa McCarthy's star power
lifted "The Boss" to an estimated $23.5 million opening weekend
despite bad reviews and rough word-of-mouth for the R-rated
comedy.
If those projections hold, it will be enough to narrowly
topple "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" from first place at
the weekend box office. As it stands, the superhero match-up
fell just short of retaining the top slot, earning $23.4
million and bringing its total after three weeks to $296.7
million. Given that this is essentially a statistical dead heat,
it is possible that those positions could shift once final
numbers roll in on Monday morning.
With "Spy," "Identity Thief" and now "The Boss," McCarthy
has become one of the most reliable comic draws in the movie
business.
"She has a hot streak going like no other comedian, male or
female, working today," said Jeff Bock, an analyst with
Exhibitor Relations. "You have to consider the lineage of Eddie
Murphy in the '80s, Jim Carrey in the '90s and Adam Sandler in
the aughts. She is their heir apparent."
Despite McCarthy's popularity, "The Boss" could have trouble
showing endurance. The film's middling C+ CinemaScore signals
that audiences agree with critics that the picture is flawed.
The film is a collaboration between McCarthy and her husband,
the director and co-writer Ben Falcone, who previously teamed on
2014's "Tammy." It centers on a business icon who is brought low
after she is convicted of insider trading. Universal distributed
the $29 million production across 3,480 theaters.
McCarthy is the film's big draw, with 76% of ticket buyers
surveyed reporting that they turned out to see the comedian.
Women comprised 67% of the audience, with 51% of the opening
crowd clocking in over the age of 35.
"She is absolutely a bankable movie star," said Nick Carpou,
president of domestic distribution at Universal. "It's another
number one opening for her."
The weekend's other new release, STX Entertainment's
"Hardcore Henry," struggled to break through, earning a feeble
$5.1 million from 3,015 theaters for a fifth place finish. The
studio acquired the point-of-view thriller in a bidding war at
last year's Toronto Film Festival, paying a reported $10 million
for the rights. The opening weekend crowd drew heavily from the
gamer set, with 72% of ticket buyers saying they played
first-person shooter video games such as "Call of Duty" and
"Halo."
Disney's "Zootopia" scored a third place finish with roughly
$14.5 million, bringing its total to $296.2 million after six
weeks in theaters, while Universal's "My Big Fat Greek Wedding
2" nabbed fourth place with $6.4 million, taking its total to
$46.7 million after three weeks of release.
"Batman v Superman" has been something of a disappointment,
given that it is likely to fall short of hitting $1 billion
globally - the line that truly elite blockbusters have to cross
to join a rarefied club. However, it has done better than some
major comic-book movies. This weekend, it eclipsed "Man of
Steel" ($291 million) on a domestic basis and it should pass
$300 million stateside at some point this week.
"We're on track to win the week three weeks in a row," said
Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros. distribution executive vice
president.
Whatever the final outcome, neither "The Boss" nor "Batman v
Superman" seem likely to extend their rule into next weekend.
That's when Disney releases a live-action version of "The Jungle
Book." Bolstered by good notices and Disney's marketing prowess,
the fresh spin on Rudyard Kipling's story of the man cub, should
hum "The Bear Necessities" all the way to the bank.