There is no denying Will Smith’s worldwide appeal. Hancock (Sony), which grossed $103.9M in its opening five and a half days, had a very strong $8.5M on Monday, and my sources believe that there is no scenario where the movie fails to top $200M domestic.
Hancock is not just an American phenomenon. The Peter Berg-directed superhero film opened No. 1 in 47 of 50 foreign territories this weekend, including the UK, Germany, Australia, Brazil and Korea. What’s more, in 15 international markets, Hancock scored a stronger opening than Kung Fu Panda (Dreamworks/Paramount). Given that the movie has not yet opened in half the world, with many of the largest territories still to come, it is very possible that the film will bank $400M overseas for a total $600M worldwide.
Despite generally negative reviews and a plot twist that has polarized audiences (no spoiler here), moviegoers still gave Hancock a solid B+ Cinemascore rating, and among Males Under 25, the movie received a better A- grade.
Without question, Will Smith will have his second consecutive worldwide gross of $500M+, following I Am Legend ($584.1M), and eight straight movies with $270M+ worldwide. Hancock has a real chance to be Smith’s all-time No. 2 worldwide hit.
ALL-TIME TOP 10 WILL SMITH WORLDWIDE GROSSES
1. Independence Day – $817.4M
2. Men in Black – $589.4M
3. I Am Legend – $584.1M
4. Men in Black II – $441.8M
5. Hitch – $368.21M
6. Shark Tale – $367.3M
7. I, Robot – $347.2M
8. The Pursuit of Happyness – $307.1M
9. Bad Boys II – $273.3M
10. Enemy of the State – $250.6M
