Saturday Box Office: 'Maleficent' On Track for $170 Million Worldwide
Fueled by female audiences of all ages, Maleficent has debuted to a massive $70 million in North America, far more than the experts' projected $65 million gross. But the bigger story is its incredible international showing, as the live-action fairy tale has grossed an outstanding $100.6 million, putting Maleficent on track to finish the weekend with $170.6 million worldwide.
The film, starring Angelina Jolie as Disney's iconic sorceress from Sleeping Beauty, is now the biggest opening of Jolie's storied career. The movie toppled the $60.2 million debut of 2008's Kung Fu Panda, the $50.9 million opening of Wanted that same year, and the $50.3 million debut of 2005's Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
"To be able to take something like Sleeping Beauty and come at it from a different angle is intriguing. Then when you can lay on the Disney brand and a star like Angelina Jolie, and you have all the ingredients," Disney's distribution chief Dave Hollis told The Hollywood Reporter.
The movie will clearly take the No. 1 spot at the box office this weekend, but Maleficent isn't the only film making its North American debut this weekend. However, not every newcomer could make the kind of scratch that particular film did.
Seth MacFarlane's A Million Ways to Die in the West is looking to finish with $17.1 million, which is nowhere near the $54.5 million earned by MacFarlane's last directorial effort two years ago, Ted. The movie opened in 21 foreign markets, bringing in an extra $10.3 million for a global debut of $27.3 million. Although the film will place at No. 3 this weekend, it is the second major studio comedy to disappoint in as many weeks, following the Adam Sandler/Drew Barrymore bomb Blended. It was also bad news for last weekend's No. 1 movie, as superhero blockbuster X-Men: Days of Future Past falls to No. 2 with a 64 percent drop in week two, raking in about $32.6 million. It's still performing well enough, but the drop is significant enough to cause concern.
Godzilla and Blended completed the top five with $12.3 million and $8.4 million, respectively.
We'll be back tomorrow with the final numbers for the weekend box office. Regardless of where each film falls, it looks as though Maleficent is off to a mammoth start. However, it will need to have real staying power to make back its $175 million budget. Still, there's no reason the film shouldn't have legs as we head into the daunting summer movie season, since it's the only female-driven film of its type in the testosterone-fueled blockbuster haze.
Credit: Disney