Box office

Cinderella has fairy tale weekend

Lily James (left) is Cinderella and Sophie McShera is Drisella in Disney’s live-action feature Cinderella. It came in first at last weekend’s box office and made about $68 million.
Lily James (left) is Cinderella and Sophie McShera is Drisella in Disney’s live-action feature Cinderella. It came in first at last weekend’s box office and made about $68 million.

LOS ANGELES -- Cinderella brought her magic to the box office last weekend, debuting with about $68 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters.

Cinderella became the third largest Disney opening for the month of March, behind the live-action Alice in Wonderland, which premiered with $116.1 million in 2010, and Oz the Great and Powerful, which opened to $79.1 million in 2013.

Directed by Kenneth Branagh, Cinderella brings back the classic fairy tale with Lily James (Downton Abbey) in the title role. After Cinderella's father dies, her stepmother (Cate Blanchett) treats her as a servant, and a fairy godmother (Helena Bonham Carter) steps in to help change her luck and get her to the royal ball, where Prince Charming (Richard Madden) awaits.

"The key to adapting a beloved property is to remain true to the essence of the original while creatively imagining the story in a new or fresh way," said Dave Hollis, Disney's head of distribution.

The film, which cost $95 million to make, pleased most moviegoers and earned an A-minus grade from audience polling firm CinemaScore. The audience skewed female (66 percent) and young (31 percent ages 12 and younger). Critics on Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a solid 83 percent positive rating.

Internationally, the film pulled in about $62.4 million in more than 30 markets, bringing its total global haul to $132.5 million.

The fact that an estimated 20 percent of U.S. schools were on spring break likely helped give Cinderella an additional push, Hollis said. He also attributed the performance to positive word-of-mouth and promotion.

"The marketing team helped create an event around the film," Hollis said.

Coming in at second for the weekend was Run All Night, which debuted with about $11 million.

Although it scored an A-minus from CinemaScore, the film fell short of $15 million tracking expectations.

"There's a good buzz out there on the movie," said Dan Fellman, Warner Bros.' head of distribution. "I just wish it had opened up a little stronger."

The action film, which cost about $50 million to make, follows a hit man (Liam Neeson) fighting to save his son. It co-stars Joel Kinnaman and Ed Harris.

The soft opening is unusual for Neeson, whose previous action film, Taken 3, opened with about $40 million and went on to make $88.3 million domestically. The R-rated Run All Night came in even lower than A Walk Among the Tombstones, the actor's 2014 Universal production, which flopped with a $13.1 million debut and went to gross $26.3 million domestically.

About 86 percent of the audience for Run All Night was older than 25, and 52 percent of moviegoers were women.

"Hopefully positive word-of-mouth will give it a good second weekend," Fellman said.

20th Century Fox's Kingsman: The Secret Service rounded out the top three in its fifth weekend in release. Based on a comic book, Kingsman follows a street kid (Taron Egerton) whom Harry Hart (Colin Firth) recruits into a secret spy organization. Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Caine also star.

The film, which has remained steadily in the top five since its release, added about $6.2 million, bringing its total domestic haul to about $107.4 million.

The Will Smith romantic caper Focus came in fourth, adding about $5.7 million and barely edging out the No. 1 film from two weeks ago, Chappie, according to early estimates. Chappie dropped 57 percent in ticket sales and finished fifth with $5.7 million.

Several other films reached milestones over the weekend. Universal Pictures reported that Fifty Shades of Grey hit $546.5 million worldwide, making it the studio's 10th highest grossing film in global ticket sales. Disney announced that Big Hero 6 finished as the No. 1 animated title of 2014, grossing more than $620 million globally.

The overall box office, which is up 4.3 percent year-to-date, will get a boost today with the release of Insurgent, the highly anticipated second film in Lionsgate's Divergent franchise.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Rentrak:

  1. Cinderella, Disney, $67,877,361, 3,845 locations, $17,653 average, $67,877,361, one week.

  2. Run All Night, Warner Bros., $11,012,305, 3,171 locations, $3,473 average, $11,012,305, one week.

  3. Kingsman: The Secret Service, 20th Century Fox, $6,214,863, 2,635 locations, $2,359 average, $107,388,101, five weeks.

  4. Focus, Warner Bros., $5,739,006, 2,855 locations, $2,010 average, $43,966,421, three weeks.

  5. Chappie, Columbia, $5,703,935, 3,201 locations, $1,782 average, $23,316,696, two weeks.

  6. The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Fox Searchlight, $5,686,043, 2,022 locations, $2,812 average, $18,046,308, two weeks.

  7. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, Paramount, $4,023,185, 2,659 locations, $1,513 average, $154,614,557, six weeks.

  8. McFarland, USA, Disney, $3,604,989, 2,455 locations, $1,468 average, $34,887,096, four weeks.

  9. Fifty Shades of Grey, Universal, $2,863,875, 2,039 locations, $1,405 average, $161,345,485, five weeks.

  10. The DUFF, Lionsgate, $2,854,628, 2,301 locations, $1,241 average, $30,272,035, four weeks.

  11. The Lazarus Effect, Relativity Media, $2,846,943, 2,054 locations, $1,386 average, $21,771,261, three weeks.

  12. American Sniper, Warner Bros., $2,811,342, 2,001 locations, $1,405 average, $341,380,906, 12 weeks.

  13. Unfinished Business, 20th Century Fox, $2,315,953, 2,777 locations, $834 average, $8,693,708, two weeks.

  14. Still Alice, Sony Pictures Classics, $897,233, 740 locations, $1,212 average, $16,327,416, nine weeks.

  15. Paddington, The Weinstein Co., $701,829, 837 locations, $839 average, $73,292,007, nine weeks.

  16. The Imitation Game, The Weinstein Co., $665,205, 525 locations, $1,267 average, $89,514,863, 16 weeks.

  17. Jupiter Ascending, Warner Bros., $509,233, 454 locations, $1,122 average, $45,974,367, six weeks.

  18. A La Mala, Lionsgate, $362,009, 273 locations, $1,326 average, $3,204,083, three weeks.

  19. What We Do in the Shadows, Paladin, $321,925, 126 locations, $2,555 average, $1,375,381, five weeks.

  20. The Wedding Ringer, Columbia, $269,412, 277 locations, $973 average, $63,922,493, nine weeks.

MovieStyle on 03/20/2015

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