Cinderella proved the latest big winner for Disney’s trend of live action fairytale remakes after topping the US box office at the weekend on its way to a $132.5m worldwide debut.
The $70.1m estimated haul for Kenneth Branagh’s film was one of the best ever openings for the month of March, and just ahead of Maleficent’s $69.4m debut in June last year. Disney’s riff on Sleeping Beauty starred Angelina Jolie in the title role and went on to make $758.4m globally to be one of the top 10 movies of 2014 at the box office.
Cinderella features a largely British cast transferred from the small screen. Downton Abbey’s Lily James takes the role of the downtrodden servant girl, with Game of Thrones’ Richard Madden as Prince Charming. Australian Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett is Cinders’ wicked stepmother, with Helena Bonham Carter as the fairy godmother in a traditionalist take which has drawn strong reviews.
Analysts suggested the film had benefited in the US from an audience skewed towards female cinemagoers, families and under 12s. Screenings also gave Disney fans the chance to see Frozen short Frozen Fever on the big screen for the first time, a significant bonus given the animated musical is the fifth highest-grossing movie of all time.
There was less positive news for the only other new film to make the North American top 10, Liam Neeson action thriller Run All Night, which opened in second spot with a relatively weak $11m bow. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, the movie stars the Ballymena-born actor as a hitman forced to defend his estranged son (Joel Kinnaman) from a vengeful crime boss. Neeson’s Taken 3 scored a $39.2m opening just two months ago, but the middling turnout for his latest gun-toting role suggests appetites may finally be waning for the Irish actor’s belated reconfiguring as an action star, despite reasonable reviews.
Third place in North America went to Matthew Vaughn spy caper Kingsman, with another $6.2m in its fifth week for a total of $107.3m. The top five was rounded out by Will Smith heist romance Focus, with another $5.81m in its fifth week for a total of $44m, and last week’s No 1 Chappie, with $5.8m in its second week for a total of $23.3m.
Elsewhere, Disney’s Marvel Comics riff Big Hero Six became the highest grossing worldwide animated release of 2014. The film has now taken $632m worldwide.
US box office top 10, 13-15 March
1. Cinderella: $70m - NEW
2. Run All Night: $11m - NEW
3. Kingsman: The Secret Service: $6.2m, $107.3m
4. Focus: $5.81m, $44m
5. Chappie: $5.8m, $23.3m
6. The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: $5.7m, $18m
7. The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water: $4.1m, $154.6m
8. McFarland, USA: $3.6m, $34.9m
9. American Sniper: $2.9m, $341.5m
10. The Duff: $2.8m, $30.3m
