Scarlett Johansson's 'Lucy' Hammers 'Hercules' and the Rock at Box Office
By Todd Cunningham
Scarlett Johansson‘s “Lucy” pummeled “Hercules” and Dwayne Johnson in a box-office battle of the action heroes and sexes, taking in a muscular $44 million over the weekend.
The Rock’s “Hercules” did better than expected and wound up with $29 million, to beat out two-time reigning champ “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” which finished third with $16.4 million. And one of Philip Seymour Hoffman‘s final films, “A Most Wanted Man,” cracked the top ten in its limited debut.
But this weekend belonged to “Lucy,” written, directed and produced by Luc Besson. The thriller about a woman who gains extraordinary brainpower after a drug implanted in her body seeps into her system beat analysts’ projections by at least $10 million, and exceeded its production budget in its first three days for Besson’s EuropaCorp and distributor Universal.
See photos: The Evolution of Scarlett Johansson: From ‘Ghost World’ to Super Smart Girl
“Lucy” marks Johansson’s top opening as the lead in a film and is the highest opening ever for an R-rated action movie starring a female. Johansson has burnished her action star credentials playing the Black Widow in “Iron Man 2,” “The Avengers” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” The performance of “Lucy” — for which Angelina Jolie was considered at one point — cements her status as a new leading lady in the genre.
The audience was split evenly between male and female and the age breakdown was broad, with 35 percent under 25 and 65 percent 25 years of age and older. They gave it a “C+” CinemaScore, in line with its 60 percent positive score on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes.
The big debut by “Lucy,” which co-stars Morgan Freeman, is all the more impressive because it is an original story, an anomaly in a summer saturated with franchise films. The overall box office is running nearly 20 percent behind last summer’s record season, and while this weekend was still about 13 percent behind the same frame last year, the strong performance of the top films is an encouraging sign.
“To have a female lead in an original property absolutely made a difference,” Universal’s distribution chief Nikki Rocco told TheWrap. “Scarlett is a star, and her presence made it a lot more appealing for women.”
Also read: ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Review: Chris Pratt Rides Shotgun on Marvel’s Charming Space Opera
The opening of “Hercules,” the first movie directed by Brett Ratner since 2011’s “Tower Heist,” topped the expectations of analysts by roughly $4 million. But the $100 million price tag of the action epic from MGM and Paramount takes some of the edge off the opening, and it’s clear “Hercules” will have to do the bulk of its business overseas to get into the black. It’s off to a solid start, taking in $28.7 million from 26 foreign markets in which it debuted this weekend.
“Hercules” played very male (58 percent) and surprisingly older domestically, with 64 percent of its audience over the age of 25. Moviegoers gave it a “B+” CinemaScore, a little better than its 63 percent Rotten Tomatoes score. IMAX and Premium Large Format screens helped. “Hercules” brought in $5.3 million from PLF screens and $4 million from 347 IMAX locations.
Ian McShane, Rufus Sewell, Joseph Fiennes and John Hurt co-star in “Hercules.” In it, the Greek strongman coming to the aid of his daughter and the King of Thrace who are threatened by a tyrannical warlord.
See photos: ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’: Marvel Unleashes 8 Action-Heavy Character Portraits
The weekend’s other wide opener, the Michael Douglas-Diane Keaton romantic comedy “And So It Goes,” opened on far fewer screens and finished eighth with an estimated $4.5 million. Distributor Clarius had the film directed by Rob Reioner in 1,768 theaters, well below the 3,173 locations that “Lucy” was in, or the 3,595 of “Hercules.”
More to come …
The post Scarlett Johansson’s ‘Lucy’ Hammers ‘Hercules’ and The Rock at Box Office appeared first on TheWrap.
Related stories from TheWrap:
'Guardians of the Galaxy' Sequel Coming to Theaters July 2017
Fox at Comic-Con: James Bond Is Whack, We’re Making Movies With Balls (and Jokes)
The Evolution of Scarlett Johansson: From ‘Ghost World’ to Super Smart Girl (Photos)
