The big buzz going into the weekend was the exciting prospect of Will Smith’s return to the 4th of July holiday for the first time since Men in Black II six years ago. Despite way more bad advance reviews than some expected, Hancock was able to bring in enough of Smith’s fans to deliver an impressive $107 million in five and a half days. The $66 million estimated for the three-day holiday weekend in just under 4,000 theaters (an average of $16.6k per site) would make it Smith’s second-biggest opening weekend ever after last year’s I Am Legend and the second-biggest three-day gross for a 4th of July weekend after Spider-Man 2 based on estimates. It’s good to keep in mind that it’s only slightly ahead of Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds with $64.9 million, so it could end up in third place. It certainly had a stronger showing over the weekend than its first couple days, grossing just over $17 million per day on Wednesday and Thursday after grossing $6.8 million from Tuesday night previews. Hancock is already Will Smith’s 8th consecutive movie to gross $100 million, an impressive feat that has never been accomplished before this.
Internationally, Hancock earned an impressive $78.3 million at 5,444 theaters in 50 markets. It marks the third-biggest opening of the year, behind only Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Iron Man. The Will Smith superhero film averaged $14,400 per location. Combined with its domestic take of $107 million, the movie has already earned $185.3 million worldwide.
You can read the rest of this weekend’s Box Office Report here.
Source: Box Office Mojo
