Melissa McCarthy is Ben Affleck’s kryptonite.
“The Boss” dethroned “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” as the number one film in the country, pulling in an estimated $23.48 million at this weekend’s box office.
Batman v. Superman, previously holding the number one spot for two consecutive weeks, finished second with a weekend gross of $23.44 million.
“The Boss,” a funny flick released by Universal and starring McCarthy had dismal reviews, as did “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” but still managed to open number one—for one reason: Melissa McCarthy.
According to Universal, 79 percent of movie-goers cited McCarthy as the reason for seeing the film.
“We love the fact that Melissa is a genuine movie star, people love her comedies and she opens at No. 1,” said Universal’s domestic distribution president Nicholas Carpou. He continued on to say, “'The Boss’ is a female-driven, R-rated, raunchy comedy that delivers, and there hasn’t been one for a while.”
The Ben Falcone directed film shows ex-convict Michelle Darnell (McCarthy) rebuild her life after a stint in prison for insider trading. McCarthy with the help of personal assistant Claire (Kristen Bell), establishes a brownie company, but still finds that her past comes back to haunt her.
It’s been a winning week for the 45-year-old actress all-around.
She received the Comedic Genius Award at the MTV Movies Awards on April 10; defeated Jimmy Fallon in a lip sync battle on April 4; defeated her husband, Falcone in a cooking competition on the “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert”; announced on April 7 to Ellen DeGeneres she is returning as Sookie St. James on the “Gilmore Girls” revival.
McCarthy’s next film, “Ghostbusters” is set for release in July 2016.
