Coming into this weekend, it looked like a battle between Hercules and Lucy, with Dawn of the Planet of the Apes in the fray as well if those disappointed. As it turned out, we had one of our busier weekends at the box office this summer, as both Hercules and Lucy opened to impressive numbers, but the real story is Lucy, which not only took the top spot, but handily beat Hercules and shattered most expectations.

Lucy

This ScarJo flick got started with a stunning $44 million. A week or two ago, I figured this flick would be lucky to break $20 million, but then as the opening weekend drew closer, it became increasingly evident we could have something special in store. This is a huge debut and proves that ScarJo could quite possibly be the most appealing female action star in Hollywood these days. Move the hell over, Angelina Jolie. Unfortunately, Lucy was an absolutely horrible piece of utter garbage. The worst movie I’ve seen all year. By far. So, as much as I like ScarJo, I have to root against this film now. Early audience reception is not good at all, so I do think this will tank hard next weekend. $100 million is far from guaranteed.

With a solid opening all its own, Hercules pulled in $29 million. It’s not quite the breakout that Lucy had, but it’s still a pretty good number, especially compared to The Legend of Hercules, which made just $18 million in its entire run earlier this year. The Rock remains a big draw, as long as he’s in the right project. Hercules fit the bill and could probably end up somewhere around $80-90 million when all is said and done.

The two newcomers hit Dawn of the Planet of the Apes hard, as there was just too much competition for the action crowd. DOTPOTA fell 55% to $16.4 million. I was really hoping it might fall more in the mid-40s this weekend, but oh well. Still, it has $172.1 million in the bank, which already almost matches the total of its predecessor. It looks headed for a solid finish around $215 million.

The Purge: Anarchy plummeted 67% to $9/9 million, which is actually a noticeable improvement over its forebear. The sequel has $51.3 million through two weekends and will probably end up around $70 million. Displaying poor legs for a kids’ movie, Planes: Fire and Rescue fell 47% to $9.3 million. With a weak $35.1 million through two weeks, maybe this poor performance will convince Disney to stop putting these toy commercials into theatres.

Sixth place went to Sex Tape, which fell a harsh 59% to $6 million. The comedy flop has grossed just $26.9 million. Transformers: Age of Extinction was down 53% and pulled in $4.6 million. With $236.5 million in the bank, it is now the summer’s highest grossing film and should finish up around $245 million. I have nothing witty to say about And So It Goes, which managed $4.5 million in its opening.

Tammy fell 54% to $3.4 million, lifting its disappointingly high total to $78.2 million. Tenth place went to 22 Jump Street, which declined 47% to $2.5 million. $185.7 million in total for the comedy hit. Well, all in all, that was an unusually active weekend for late July, but perhaps it’s a precursor to which should be an uncharacteristically packed August, led by Guardians of the Galaxy, debuting next week.