Sony Pictures and actor Will Smith have pulled off another Fourth of July blockbuster weekend with the deconstructed superhero flick Hancock. The film opened on Tuesday night and managed an estimated $107 million over the five-day holiday frame, easily taking the top spot at the North American box office from Disney/Pixar’s WALL●E. One of two animated movies in the top five, Director Andrew Stanton’s CG space odyssey picked up nearly $42 million over the stretch and slipped to No. 2 in its second weekend at theaters. The $180 toon has made more than $128 million domestically and has taken in roughly $3 million from a handful of overseas playdates.
Visual effects fireworks by Sony Pictures Imageworks, X1 FX, Furious FX, Eden FX and Luma Pictures added to the allure of Hancock as moviegoers sought thrills and a little relief from the summer heat. Though it missed the mark with most critics, the pic became the third highest-grossing Fourth of July opener, falling behind last year’s Transformers from DreamWorks and Paramount, and Sony’s own 2004 superhero release, Spider-Man 2. Hancock has also been doing big business overseas as foreign markets kicked in another $78 million to bring the worldwide gross to approximately $185 million. Hancock‘s solid opening could launch director Peter Berg into a whole different league of filmmaking. Since his directorial debut with the cult hit Very Bad Things, the former TV actor has been moving up the ladder with The Rundown, Friday Night Lights and The Kingdom, but hasn’t had a smash hit on his hands until now.
In its second week, The Universal shoot-’em-up Wanted was the third most-watched film of the weekend. Domestic receipts amounting to about $20 million contributed to a worldwide tally of $128 million. Coming in at No. 4 is Warner Bros.’ Get Smart with an estimated Friday-Sunday take of $11 million, while DreamWorks Animation’s Kung-Fu Panda finishes out the top five with approximately $7.5 million for the weekend and about $295 million worldwide to date.
