Box office: Melissa McCarthy beats Batman, while Zootopia becomes one of the top ten animated films in North America

It was Batman vs. Superman vs. Melissa McCarthy at the box office this week.

The Boss, starring McCarthy as an abrasive businesswoman, grossed an estimated $23.5 million between Thursday and Sunday nights, which was just enough to take the top spot away from the third week of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

The Boss had a smaller opening than most recent McCarthy vehicles, opening a little ahead of Tammy (2014, $21.6 million) but behind films that have paired her with the likes of Jason Bateman (Identity Thief, 2013, $34.6 million), Sandra Bullock (The Heat, 2013, $39.1 million) and Jason Statham (Spy, 2015, $29.1 million).

The Boss may not have much staying power at the box office, as audiences gave it a C+ CinemaScore and only 51% said they would recommend it to their friends.

But despite those caveats, The Boss still edged ahead of Batman v Superman, which earned an estimated $23.4 for a cume of $296.7 million after three weeks.

Admittedly, the two films are virtually tied and could reverse their rankings when the actual figures come in tomorrow. But some observers think the superhero movie could fall significantly behind projections this week, just like it did the last two weeks.

The other new wide release this week was Hardcore Henry, an R-rated action film shot entirely from the point of view of the semi-robotic main character.

The film earned only $5.1 million and ranked fifth for the weekend, which was a few million bucks below expectations and one of the lowest wide openings for a film produced by Timur Bekmambetov (ahead of only The Darkest Hour, 2011, $3 million) or co-starring Sharlto Copley (previous lowest: Chappie, 2015, $13.3 million).

Meanwhile, in other box-office news…

Zootopia slid slightly to third place this week and earned another $14.4 million to bring its domestic total up to $296 million after six weeks. Zootopia is now the 10th-highest-grossing animated film ever in North America, and with another $556.5 million overseas, it is still the highest-grossing film of the year worldwide.

Miracles from Heaven grossed $4.8 million and ranked sixth in its fourth week, for a domestic total of $53.9 million. It has earned another $3.1 million overseas.

God’s Not Dead 2 — which narrowly beat Miracles from Heaven last week — fell behind that film in its second week to gross $4.3 million and rank seventh, for a domestic total of $14.1 million. The film has earned another $9,606 in South Korea.

The Young Messiah grossed only $7,000 in 41 theatres in its fifth week. It has earned $6.4 million in North America and another $683,833 overseas.

There were no estimates for Risen in its eighth week. As of Thursday it had earned $36.6 million in North American and another $7.4 million overseas.

Now for a bit of extra data on the “faith-based” films:

Miracles from Heaven had the fourth-best first weekend of any film in this genre three weeks ago, and now it has the sixth-best fourth weekend:

• 2004 — The Passion of the Christ — $19.4 million
• 2014 — Heaven Is for Real — $7.5 million
• 2015 — War Room — $6.2 million
• 2014 — God’s Not Dead — $5.5 million
• 2006 — The Nativity Story — $5.0 million
• 2016 — Miracles from Heaven — $4.8 million
• 2011 — Soul Surfer — $3.4 million
• 2002 — Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie — $2.8 million
• 2014 — Son of God — $2.7 million
• 2008 — Fireproof — $2.6 million

Miracles from Heaven still ranks sixth among “faith-based” films domestically:

• 2004 — The Passion of the Christ — $370.8 million
• 2014 — Heaven Is for Real — $91.4 million
• 2015 — War Room — $67.8 million
• 2014 — God’s Not Dead — $60.8 million
• 2014 — Son of God — $59.7 million
• 2016 — Miracles from Heaven — $53.9 million
• 2011 — Soul Surfer — $43.9 million
• 2006 — The Nativity Story — $37.6 million
• 2016 — Risen — $36.6 million
• 2011 — Courageous — $34.5 million

Meanwhile, Risen still ranks eighth among recent Bible-themed films:

• 2004 — The Passion of the Christ — $370.8 million
• 1998 — The Prince of Egypt — $101.4 million
• 2014 — Noah — $101.2 million
• 2014 — Exodus: Gods and Kings — $65 million
• 2014 — Son of God — $59.7 million
• 2009 — Year One — $43.3 million
• 2006 — The Nativity Story — $37.6 million
• 2016 — Risen — $36.6 million
• 1981 — History of the World, Part I — $31.7 million
• 2016 — Hail, Caesar! — $30.1 million
• 2002 — Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie — $25.6 million
• 1979 — Monty Python’s Life of Brian — $20 million
• 1980 — Wholly Moses! — $14.2 million
• 2006 — One Night with the King — $13.4 million
• 1988 — The Last Temptation of Christ — $8.4 million
• 2016 — The Young Messiah — $6.4 million
• 1985 — King David — $5.1 million
• 2003 — The Gospel of John — $4.1 million