Melissa McCarthy‘s “The Boss” triumphed over “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” at the Friday box office, earning $8 million while the fast-falling superhero saga grossed $6 million.
“The Boss” is now looking at $21.8 million for its opening weekend, while the Henry Cavill–Ben Affleck film is looking to add another $21.6 million to its $274.3 million domestic gross.
“Batman v Superman” suffered a massive decline of 69.1 percent in its second weekend, when it earned $51.3 million. Heading into this weekend, its third, “BvS” was projected to fall by about half, but looks to be falling even harder. If it earns $21.6 million, as appears likely, that would be a 58 percent drop.
Before the weekend, “The Boss” and “Batman v Superman” were neck and neck in Fandango’s advanced ticket sales, with the former scoring 80 points out of 100 points while the superhero film earned 81 points.
McCarthy’s 2013 hit, “Identity Thief,” earned $11 million at the Friday box office, while “The Heat,” costarring Sandra Bullock, earned $13.7 million. “The Boss” had a significantly lower budget than those films, costing around $29 million to produce.
Starring Kristen Bell, Peter Dinklage and Kathy Bates, “The Boss” is about Michelle Darnell, an industry titan who goes to prison for insider trading and then tries to redeem herself by building a brownie empire.
“The Boss” currently holds a score of 18 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and a C+ on CinemaScore.
Disney’s “Zootopia,” in its sixth weekend, should come in third this round, with another $12.6 million added to its already whopping $294 million domestic run.
STX Entertainment’s “Hardcore Henry” took in $2 million at 3,015 locations on Friday. The action film, shot entirely with a GoPro, is looking at a $7 million to $9 million opening weekend.
Critics are split: It now has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 53 percent, although it was up to 70 percent in the days leading up to the previews. The film has a CinemaScore of C+. STX bought the film at Toronto Film Festival.