Friday Box Office: 'Maleficent' Headed Towards $65 Million Debut
The weekend has only just kicked off, but it looks like X-Men: Days of Future Past, the No. 1 movie at last weekend's box office, could be in huge trouble. Disney's live-action fairy tale Maleficent, starring Angelina Jolie as the iconic villain, has proven to be a huge success just 24 hours into its release, as it is already nearing $25 million for the day. If it continues at this pace through the rest of the weekend, pundits predict the blockbuster could finish with a debut in excess of $65 million.
The movie has a huge advantage already by being the only blockbuster so far this year explicitly aimed towards women (particularly mothers and their daughters), as it provides an alternative to all the testosterone-fueled films of recent weeks, such as X-Men: Days of Future Past, Godzilla, and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. At this rate, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that the film could reach $70 million before the weekend is out, given preliminary projections. After all, this is Angelina Jolie's return to the big screen after four long years away from the spotlight. And her husband, Brad Pitt, is in the news for getting attacked at the film's Hollywood premiere by a celebrity prankster who'd been fired from his lucrative job on Ukrainian TV (because sometimes, the truth really is stranger than fiction).
Of course, for Maleficent to be a success, it will have to perform as well overseas as it has domestically, since the film cost $175 million to produce after reshoots (which was reportedly the result of tension between Jolie and first-time feature director Robert Stromberg, two-time Oscar winner and, strangely enough, the uncle of Emblem3 singers Keaton and Wesley Stromberg. Of course, I doubt anyone still gives half a bean about The X Factor USA right now). That said, Maleficent is getting off to a strong start internationally, grossing $20.1 million in its first two days from 35 markets including Russia, Germany, Australia, the U.K., Korea and Brazil.
However, the news was far less promising for Seth MacFarlane, whose A Million Ways to Die in the West is on track to debut in the $20 million range, a far cry from the $54.4 million debut for Ted on this same weekend two years ago. Of course, Ted is a bit of an extraordinary case, since it would go on to become the highest-grossing original R-rated comedy of all time by the end of its run, taking in $549.4 million worldwide. That kind of success is hard to duplicate for anybody, particularly with yet another original (see also: non-sequel, spinoff, adaptation, or franchise) film. Still, it has to be a bit of a disappointment that the film is looking unlikely to make a significant dent in the box office, as it is predicted to finish at No. 3 behind X-Men: Days of Future Past, which is expected to end its second weekend in the $38 million to $40 million range.
But the weekend is far from over. What are you going to see this weekend? Sound off in the comments, as we keep track of which way the proverbial wind is blowing at the weekend box office on this last weekend in May.
Credit: Disney