[Weekend Box Office] Angelina Jolie's Maleficent Opens to Huge Numbers
Angelina Jolie made some power moves this weekend with her latest film, Disney's Maleficent, as it had a spectacular $70m opening to net the top spot at the box office. The film, which is a live-action retelling of Sleeping Beauty from the antagonist's perspective, made more than twice the amount this week's runner-up made, last week's top film, X-Men: Days of Future Past. The other major release this weekend, Seth MacFarlane's A Million Ways to Die in the West, underperformed with a $17m return. Godzilla made $12m this weekend, allowing the film to hold tight to its Top 5 positioning. Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore's Blended rounded out the Top 5 with $8m. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 continues its fall from grace with a $3.7m showing for 7th. Jon Favreau's Chef continues to surprise, bringing in an additional $2m, edging it closer to the $7m mark. While those numbers might sound considerably low, the film has only been released in 624 theaters, making an average of $3,219 in each theater this weekend.
You can check out the rest of this weekend's box office numbers below.
1. Maleficent - $70,000,000
2. X-Men: Days of Future Past - $32,600,000
3. A Million Ways to Die in the West - $17,068,990
4. Godzilla - $12,225,000
5. Blended - $8,425,000
6. Neighbors - $7,714,875
7. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - $3,775,000
8. Million Dollar Arm - $3,700,000
9. Chef - $2,009,000
10. The Other Woman - $1,425,000
[via Rentrak]
First official poster of Angelina Jolie as Maleficent
Much like last year's Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman, Hollywood is dipping into the fairy tales of yesteryear. This time, Disney is revisiting one of their most popular films, Sleeping Beauty, and giving it a modern, live-action makeover. Starring Angelina Jolie as the titular villain, Maleficent will serve as both a remake and prequel to Sleeping Beauty told from the antagonist's perspective.
Also starring in the film are Elle Fanning (Super 8) as Princess Aurora/Sleeping Beauty and Brenton Thwaites (The Giver) as Prince Phillip with Juno Temple (Killer Joe), Sam Riley (On the Road), and Sharlto Copley (Oldboy). The first trailer for Maleficent will be available tomorrow morning, so I'll actually have more to say about the film and its direction sooner than later.
For now, enjoy the first look at Jolie as Maleficent below.
