Dwayne Johnson was no match for Scarlett Johansson, whose action-thriler "Lucy" raked in $44 million in its opening weekend. "Hercules," based on the Radical Publishing comic by Steve Moore and Admira Wijaystarsa, came in second at the North American box office with $29 million.

While "Lucy" marks the biggest opening for director Luc Besson, its performance is being viewed as an even bigger win for Johannson, who's on a roll with "Her," "Under the Skin," "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" and, soon, "Avengers: Age of Ultron."

"Her bankability is beyond reproach and her street cred is beyond comparison," Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Rentrak, told Variety. "She can bounce gracefully between indie movies and esoteric movies and then rise to the top box office charts."

"Lucy," which was made for $40 million, centers on a woman who accidentally ingests a synthetic superdrug that gives her extraordinary physical and mental abilities, allowing her to turn the tables on her captors. Morgan Freeman also stars.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, 50 percent of ticket buyers for "Lucy" were female, while 65 percent of the audience was age 25 or older.

"Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" came in third, after three weeks in theaters, with $16.4 million, followed by holdovers "The Purge: Anarchy ($9.9 million) and "Planes: Fire & Rescue" ($9.3 million).