LOS ANGELES — Will Smith’s “Hancock” scored a strong $66 million in domestic ticket sales over the weekend, affirming his drawing power but leaving Hollywood short of the peaks it hit during last year’s Fourth of July holiday period.
Since opening with previews Tuesday evening, “Hancock,” Sony Pictures Entertainment’s comic action movie about a damaged superhero, took in $107.3 million at the domestic box office and $78 million more from 50 countries around the world, studio executives said.
That marked a personal triumph for Mr. Smith, as audiences flocked to the film despite soft reviews. “He’s just the guy everybody loves,” said Rory Bruer, the Sony Pictures distribution president. “Everybody wants to see what he’s up to.”
Mr. Bruer noted that the film was Mr. Smith’s eighth consecutive No. 1 opening, beginning with “Men in Black II,” which opened over the July Fourth holiday in 2002.
The current Top 10 films took in about $155.5 million for the weekend, down 2.9 percent from $160.1 million for the Top 10 during the equivalent weekend last year, according to figures compiled by Screenline, the box-office reporting service.
“Hancock,” an unusually complex take on the superhero genre, took in far less over the extended holiday period than did Paramount Pictures’ toy-based action film “Transformers,” which had $155.4 million during the equivalent period last year.
“Kit Kittredge: An American Girl,” a G-rated film, took in just $3.6 million over the weekend for Picturehouse to place No. 8 as it expanded in its third weekend from a handful of screens to more than 1,800 in a bid to capitalize on the popularity of the American Girl doll line.
Other top performers included “Wall-E” from Walt Disney, which placed at No. 2 with $33.4 million in sales for its second weekend; “Wanted” from Universal Pictures, which was No. 3 with $20.6 million in its second weekend; and “Get Smart” from Warner Brothers, which was No. 4 with $11.1 million in its third weekend.
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