McCarthy’s ‘The Boss’ debuts to $23.5M at box office

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 $23.5 million debut, according to comScore estimates 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 $23.4 million in its third weekend. Despite poor reviews and word of mouth, “Batman v Superman” has earned an estimated $296.7 million to date.

When the final box office figures are released Monday, the DC Comics mashup could end up overcoming McCarthy’s R-rated Universal comedy.

“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. We’ll know for sure tomorrow.”

Disney’s “Zootopia” landed in third place with $14.4 million. In its sixth weekend, the animated film featuring the voices of Jason Bateman and Ginnifer Goodwin has earned a total domestic haul of $296 million.

The weekend’s only other newcomer, STX Entertainment’s first-person action romp “Hardcore Henry,” opened in fifth place with a dismal $5.1 million.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Melissa McCarthy performs in a scene from “The Boss.”