'Hancock' lights up July 4th weekend

By Stone Martindale Jul 6, 2008, 22:11 GMT

Will Smith stars as a hard-living superhero who has fallen out of public favour. ...more

Will Smith is dominating the box office this weekend. "Hancock" is a monster hit for Sony, opening in the number one spot on a weekend that is still down sales wise from last year's tally.

Domestic box office numbers show that the PG-13 film (in 3,965 theaters), Sony Pictures' No. 1 Hancock had a  5 1/2-day cumulative gross of $107.3 million.

The noir comedy about a flawed superhero zoomed to the top despite less than stellar reviews. Nikki Finke of DHD reports the film only received 33% positive reviews from top critics and "so-so buzz."

The lucrative Smith July 4th history was kept intact, reminiscent of his big hits like "Independence Day," "Men In Black," and "Wild Wild West."

Finke reports that Will has twelve #1 films throughout his career and has opened 9 films to opening weekend grosses higher than $40M.

Sony, according to Finke, believes in the "Hancock" future franchise.

Overseas, Hancock did an additional $78.3 million.

The film, according to Box Office Mojo, was #1 in 47 of 50 territories for a worldwide total to date of $185 million.

The film has not opened yet in France, Russia, Belgium, Holland, Mexico, Spain, Sweden, Italy and Japan.

Wall-E by Disney/Pixar placed second. In 3,992 screens for a $33.4 million weekend for a new total of $128.1 million.

Number three was the action-packed Universal's "Wanted", the Angelina Jolie-James McAvoy film made $20.6 million for the 3-day weekend in 3,185 theaters for a new total of $90.7 million.

The 4th place winner was Warner Bros' Get Smart with a $11.1 million weekend from 3,574 plays and a $98.1 million total.

DreamWorks Animation/Paramount's "Kung Fu Panda" placed number five which is now at $193.3 million for a total.

Marvel/Universal's "The Incredible Hulk" was number six and ended the weekend with with a new total of $124.9 million.

Paramount's "Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull" place number seven, and earned a new cumulative total of $306.5 million.

Picturehouse's "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl" was a disappointing number eight in the top ten this weekend. 

HBO Films/New Line/Warner Bros' "Sex And The City" was number nine and has a new total of $143.8 million.

Top 10 finisher was Sony's "You Don't Mess With The Zohan" starring Adam Sandler, his new total is $94.7 million.

The holiday weekend total of $155 million according to Finke was down 8% from last year's $170 million.