Los Angeles — Step aside, Batman and Superman. Melissa McCarthy is The Boss at the box office now.
The actress' latest comedy narrowly topped Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice at the weekend box office with a $23.5m debut, according to comScore estimates on Sunday. The Boss stars McCarthy as an over-the-top business mogul attempting to rebound after being convicted of insider trading.
McCarthy's win wasn't a total knockout. The Warner Bros. superhero smackdown starring Ben Affleck as the Dark Knight and Henry Cavill as the Man of Steel nabbed $23.4m in its third weekend. Despite poor reviews and word of mouth, Batman v Superman has earned an estimated $296.7m to date.
Batman v Superman earned an additional $34m in 67 international markets, bringing its international total to $486.8m.
"It's incredibly close," said Paul Dergarabedian, comScore's senior media analyst. "It's one of the closest results between first- and second-place films I've ever seen. Anything can happen."
Disney's Zootopia landed in third place with $14.4m. In its sixth weekend, the animated film featuring the voices of Jason Bateman and Ginnifer Goodwin has earned a total domestic haul of $296m.
The weekend's only other newcomer, STX Entertainment's first-person action romp Hardcore Henry, opened in fifth place with a dismal $5.1m.