Step aside Batman v Superman, Melissa McCarthy’s The Boss is taking the No. 1 crown at the box office, scoring $23.5 million from 3,480 locations.
“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.”
THE BOSS: Melissa McCarthy Talks Drooling on Set and Former Bosses
Seventy-nine percent of moviegoers said that McCarthy was the main reason for seeing the film. “We love the fact that Melissa is a genuine movie star, people love her comedies and she opens at number one,” said Nicholas Carpou, Universal’s domestic distribution president. “The Boss is a female-driven, R-rated raunchy comedy that delivers, and there hasn’t been one for a while.”
However, McCarthy’s popularity may not be enough to keep the film on top. Audience members, who were 67 percent women and 51 percent under the age of 35, gave the film a C-plus CinemaScore, while the critics gave it poor reviews on Rotten Tomatoes (currently at 18 percent “fresh”).
The Boss, written by McCarthy and her husband Ben Falcone (who also served as director), centers on a business icon who is sent to prison after she is convicted of insider trading. Kristen Bell, Peter Dinklage and Kathy Bates also star.
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Following closely behind the box office winner is Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The superhero film, starring Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill, took in $23.4 million, falling 54 percent in its third weekend. Domestically, it has accumulated $269.7 million.
In third and fourth place at the box office are holdovers Disney’s Zootopia and Universal’s My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, with $14.4 million and $6.4 million, respectively. The animated feature gathered a domestic total of $296.01 million, while the latter has reached $46.7 million domestically.
The weekend’s other new release included STX Entertainment’s Hardcore Henry with $5.1 million from 3,015 theaters for a fifth place finish. From director Ilya Naishuller, who drew its inspiration from first person shooter video games, the film appealed greatly to young males (76 percent, and young, with 67 percent in the 17-34 age group) – receiving a C-plus CinemaScore and a 51 percent “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Top 10 Films at Weekend Box Office: April 8-10
- The Boss — $23.48 million
- Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice — $23.43 million
- Zootopia — $14.4 million
- My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 — $6.4 million
- Hardcore Henry — $5.1 million
- Miracles From Heaven — $4.8 million
- God’s Not Dead 2 — $4.3 million
- Divergent Series: Allegiant – Part 1 — $3.6 million
- 10 Cloverfield Lane — $3.0 million
- Eye In The Sky — $2.8 million
