Box office: Sorry, ‘Hercules,’ ‘Lucy’ can lift too

“Hercules” couldn’t muster the box-office strength to top “Lucy” in the start of this weekend.

On Friday, “Lucy,” Universal Pictures’ superhuman action flick starring Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman, pulled in an estimated $17 million in domestic ticket sales. The film is expected to gross $45 million in its opening weekend.

Brett Ratner’s PG-13 “Hercules,” starring Dwayne Johnson, opened on Friday in second place with $11 million in ticket sales, according to estimates.

In its third weekend, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” came in third on Friday with $4.7 million, adding to a total $160 million in ticket sales since opening. The sequel to 2011’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” has earned the top domestic-box-office spot the last two weekends. It briefly fell to second last Friday with Universal’s release of “The Purge: Anarchy,” but it has since edged out the horror flick, which came in fourth Friday with $3.4 million in sales.

Disney’s animated “Planes: Fire & Rescue” came in fifth place on Friday, with $2.7 million, garnering a total $28.5 million since opening last weekend domestically.