This weekend was a woman's weekend at the movies as "Cinderella" was the hit of the box office, reeling in $70.1 million domestically in its debut.
"Cinderella" was so grand, it swept in and took top honors over Disney's previous live-action fairy tale, "Maleficent," which scored $69.4 million in its debut last May. "Cinderella" also escorted director Kenneth Branagh to his biggest opener to date, as reported by Deadline Hollywood.
Liam Neeson's "Run All Night" ran out of gas to finish a distant second with an $11 million debut.
In its weekend debut, Branagh's "Cinderella" pulled in an audience that was 66 percent families and mostly women. Branagh's biggest opener to date was "Thor," which took in $65.7 million in May of 2011.
The sweeping entrance of "Cinderella" is significant particularly as it bowed in March. It is Disney's third-highest March opener behind "Alice in Wonderland," which collected $116.1 million, and "Oz The Great and Powerful," which took in $79.1 million.
On an international scale, the Disney fairy tale went home with a princely $132.1 million, according to IGN, taking in $25 million in China alone.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros.' "Run All Night" missed the $15 million forecast, as movie goers showed a preference for the beloved fairy tale over the hard action flick. The $50 million film may have been pitched wrong, a studio executive told Deadline.
But nonetheless, the action thriller was attractive to the over-25 crowd, which comprised 85 percent of the audience, and mostly older women, who made up 52 percent of its ticket-buyers.
Rounding out the top 10 for the mid-March weekend:
3. "Kingsman: The Secret Service," with $6.2 million; 4. "Focus," with $5.8 million; 5. "Chappie," with $5.8 million; 6. "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel," which checked in at $5.7 million; 7. "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water," which soaked up $4.1 million, 8. "McFarland, USA," which harvested $3.7 million, 9. "American Sniper," still on a streak, taking in $2.9 million, and 10. "The Duff," which grabbed $2.9 million.
