Weekend Estimates: Boss tied at the top with Batman v Superman

April 10, 2016

The Boss

Critics have not been kind to The Boss, and audiences are split 50–50 between liking it and hating it, but it will still post a respectable $23.48 million opening, according to Universal’s Sunday projection. Among recent Melissa McCarthy outings, that’s a little ahead of Tammy ($21.6 million on opening weekend), and a little behind Spy! ($29.1 million). Of more immediate interest, it’s almost exactly tied with Batman v Superman at the top of the chart.

Only $46,000 separates the two films, based on studio projections, with Batman v Superman down 54% this weekend to $23.44 million, per Warner Bros.. The numbers I’ve seen suggest that The Boss may win by a little more than that when all is said and done, but it’ll be incredibly close either way. So close, in fact, that a spot of bad weather or a close finish to The Masters golf could yet flip the result.

Regardless of the order of the finish, this is another bad weekend for BvS, with the super hero film finishing the weekend with $296.7 million. It will clearly top $300 million domestically, and passes Zootopia’s total this weekend, but it will fall short of Deadpool, which remains the top-grossing film of 2016 with $358 million so far.

Two other films opened wide, or close to wide, this weekend, and both are faring poorly. Hardcore Henry will debut with $5.1 million from 3,015 theaters, for an average of $1,690. That’s disappointing for an innovative movie that, in spite of a weak plot, at least attempted something new. Audiences aren’t enthusiastic enough to give it much chance of an extended run in theaters, but it should have a decent life on video, and seems like a perfect fit for VOD.

Demolition is a very different film compared to Hardcore Henry, but is getting almost exactly the same overall response from critics and audiences. In this case, an excellent cast can’t quite offset a story that doesn’t quite work, and the film will make about $1.1 million from 854 locations for an average of $1,317. That’s simply a bust for an art-house picture.

Among limited releases, Vita Activa: The Spirit of Hannah Arendt is the stand-out performer this weekend. It will post $13,444 in a single theater and claim the theater average prize overall as the only film averaging over $10,000 this weekend.

- Weekend estimates
- The Boss comparisons
- Hardcore Henry comparisons
- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice comparisons

Bruce Nash,

Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Deadpool, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Demolition, Zootopia, The Boss, Hardcore Henry, Vita Activa: The Spirit of Hannah Arendt, Melissa McCarthy