It didn't reach the heights of “Oz: The Great and Powerful” or “Alice in Wonderland,” but you can bet the executives at Walt Disney Studios are overjoyed at the opening of their live action version of “Cinderella” this weekend.
Kenneth Branagh's adaptation of the classic fairy tale opened to a magical $70 million to easily take the no. 1 spot at the weekend box office. “Cinderella” reportedly played to a massive 77% female audience and earned an A Cinemascore grade. The family flick will have some competition next weekend as “Insurgent” is poised to steal some of its teenage girl and twentysomething female audience, but “Cinderella” is already a hit that will contribute to all aspects of the Disney empire.
Debuting far behind in second place was Jaume Collet-Serra's “Run All Night.” The Liam Neeson thriller earned a positive A- Cinemascore grade and mixed to positive reviews, but earned just $11 million over the three-day. That's even lower than “A Walk Among the Tombsones'” $12.7 million debut last September. However, “Run” was also the third Neeson thriller to hit theaters in seven months and audiences may just be a little tapped out when it's hard to distinguish one of the actor's films from another.
“Kingsman: The Secret Service” continued its impressive run in third with another $6.2 million and $107.3 million so far. Globally, the Matthew Vaughn spy flick is on its way to blockbusters status with $257.6 million plus to date.
Will Smith's “Focus” came in at no. 4 with an additional $5.805 million and $44 million overall. The Warner Bros. release should end up comfortably past $55 million domestic when all said and done.
Sony Pictures' “Chappie was barely behind “Focus” with another $5.8 million and a disappointing $23.3 million in its first 10 days. With just $5,000 between “Chappie” and “Focus” it will be curious to see where both films land when actuals are released on Monday.
Fox Searchlight's “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” dropped out the top five with $5.7 million and $18 million so far. Even with an additional 449 theaters “Second Best” had a 33% drop. While older audiences have been key to its success so far it's clear “Cinderella” siphoned off more of its audience than the mini-major may have expected.
New films opening Friday include the aforementioned “Insurgent” and “The Gunman.”