There were rumblings late last week over possible signs that Will Smith's newest movie, Hancock, might not be one of his biggest box office successes. When the numbers were in, though, the critically challenged action comedy had the heart of superhero after all.
Numbers from Wednesday and Thursday of the movie's early holiday release looked a little grim, but it turns out audiences were just waiting for the weekend. Even without the $6 million plus from Tuesday night previews Hancock banked more that $100 million over its first five days and took in $66 million over the weekend proper.
Not only is that the third best weekend opening of the year so far (just nudging out Wall-E for the honor) it's the second best opening for a Will Smith flick. In fact, up until last year's I Am Legend (which had an impressive first weekend of $77 million) Smith had yet to have a movie open above $60 million. Now with two recent movies above that level and the fact that critics generally gave Hancock a solid thumbs down, Will Smith's bankability just might be reaching critic-proof status.
The fact that Hancock opened without any other new competition (Kit Kittredge doesn't really count and I'll explain why later) certainly didn't hurt its chances for success, but the fourth of July weekend didn't offer much help. The fact that the holiday fell on a Friday made for one of the weaker July Fourth weekends in theaters in the last several years. With no extra day tacked on to add to the box office bulk, movies actually did worse since more people spent Friday grilling out and celebrating instead of heading to the theater. Saturday's numbers were unusually high for some movies as people turned out in droves to make up missing their usual Friday outtings, but overall the weekend was still left in the slimmest bit of a slump.
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl expanded wide this weekend after two strong weeks in limited release, but it barely registered a blip on the radar. Earning only $3 million and change it was lucky to make the top ten at all. It just goes to show you that having the word "American" in your title doesn't mean you can expect special treatment on the Fourth of July.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE TOP TEN July 4 - 6, 2008
LW = Last Week WR = Weeks Released THTRS = Number of Screens * Denotes new release. Click on title to read CB Review
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