FRIDAY BOX-OFFICE: Maleficent Reigns, McFarlane's Cowboy Shoots Blanks
Audiences are bewitched by Disney's bad girl blockbuster
Despite mixed reviews and some concerns that certain scenes were too dark for younger audiences, Disney's Maleficent had a big $24.5 million Friday opening. Analysts are predicting the dark revisionist fairytale could fly as high as $65-$70 million.
Disney is betting that the film, which reimagines the plot of Sleeping Beauty from the perspective of its main villain (Angelina Jolie), will have legs similar to last year's Oz: The Great & Powerful, which went on to be a gargantuan international smash. It also likely hopes this bodes well for next year's live-action remake of Cinderella from Kenneth Brannagh.
Meanwhile, Seth McFarlane's cowboy spoof, A Million Ways to Die in the West, came up short and isn't expected to end the weekend above $17 million. That's a big sophomore-slump for the Family Guy creator (and a serious dent in his own viability as a leading man) after the mega-hit Ted, a sequel to which is in-production for next year. West's third-place underperformance was good news, on the other hand, for last week's big opener, X-Men: Days of Future Past; which gets to stay in the #2 spot despite a 65% drop.
Next week is expected to keep industry number-crunchers up late: The Tom Cruise sci-fi actioner Edge of Tomorrow (originally known as All You Need Is Kill) is getting good early reviews, but the YA-adaptation tearjerker The Fault in Our Stars, a romance involving teenaged cancer patients, is believed to be a potential surprise powerhouse.
Source: Deadline [http://www.deadline.com/2014/05/box-office-disneys-maleficent-spells-success-a-million-ways-to-die-in-the-west-side-saddled/]
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Audiences are bewitched by Disney's bad girl blockbuster
Despite mixed reviews and some concerns that certain scenes were too dark for younger audiences, Disney's Maleficent had a big $24.5 million Friday opening. Analysts are predicting the dark revisionist fairytale could fly as high as $65-$70 million.
Disney is betting that the film, which reimagines the plot of Sleeping Beauty from the perspective of its main villain (Angelina Jolie), will have legs similar to last year's Oz: The Great & Powerful, which went on to be a gargantuan international smash. It also likely hopes this bodes well for next year's live-action remake of Cinderella from Kenneth Brannagh.
Meanwhile, Seth McFarlane's cowboy spoof, A Million Ways to Die in the West, came up short and isn't expected to end the weekend above $17 million. That's a big sophomore-slump for the Family Guy creator (and a serious dent in his own viability as a leading man) after the mega-hit Ted, a sequel to which is in-production for next year. West's third-place underperformance was good news, on the other hand, for last week's big opener, X-Men: Days of Future Past; which gets to stay in the #2 spot despite a 65% drop.
Next week is expected to keep industry number-crunchers up late: The Tom Cruise sci-fi actioner Edge of Tomorrow (originally known as All You Need Is Kill) is getting good early reviews, but the YA-adaptation tearjerker The Fault in Our Stars, a romance involving teenaged cancer patients, is believed to be a potential surprise powerhouse.
Source: Deadline [http://www.deadline.com/2014/05/box-office-disneys-maleficent-spells-success-a-million-ways-to-die-in-the-west-side-saddled/]
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