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Mistress of Evil’ Falls Short of Expectations Despite Topping Box Office

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'Maleficent: Mistress of Evil' Falls Short of Expectations Despite Topping Box Office
Walt Disney Pictures

The Angelina Jolie-starring movie fails to repeat the success of the first movie, but it still manages to beat ‘Joker’ to take over the first spot at the domestic chart.

AceShowbiz
Angelina Jolie‘s horned-witch character casts a weaker spell upon its return to the big screen. The sequel of Disney’s 2014 “Maleficent“, “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil“, has a soft opening at North American box office with approximately $36 million from 3,790 theaters.

That’s more than 45 percent behind the $69.4 million launch of the predecessor, which was directed by Robert Stromberg. The Joachim Ronning-helmed sequel was initially projected to open with around $40 million domestically.

The number, however, is enough to edge out “Joker” from the top spot, making the fantasy movie a new champion at the weekly chart. Internationally, “Maleficent 2” bowed to $117 million from 56 material markets for a current worldwide total of $153 million. It’s the third-biggest global start ever for the month of October.

Disney remains confident of the movie’s long run as the studio’s distribution chief Cathleen Taff says in a statement, “Overall, we are seeing a solid start for the film around the world, although it’s not as strong as we hoped for domestically. But we have a nice run up to Halloween and the audience reaction has been very positive.”

“Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” got not-so-favorable reviews from critics, holding an approval rating of 41% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. However, audiences didn’t seem to be affected by the reviews, as they gave the film an average grade of “A” on an A+ to F scale on CinemaScore. That’s the same score given by moviegoers polled for the first film, which holds an approval rating of 53%.

“Joker”, meanwhile, remains solid with an estimated $29.2 million, or dropping 47.7% from last week, to finish at the runner-up place. It has so far grossed $247.2 million domestically and $490.3 million internationally for a current global total of $737.5 million.

“It’s already in territory that nobody thought it would get to. It’s achieved a box office that is above the wildest expectations of the studio and analysts,” Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore’s senior media analyst, says of the R-rated film. “Even if the box office stopped right now, it’s an absolute, unqualified success.”

Another newcomer which had a wide release this week, “Zombieland: Double Tap” debuts at No. 3 with approximately $26.7 million, slightly higher than its 2009 predecessor which made $24.7 million on its first weekend.

The Addams Family” animated remake falls two places to No. 4 on its second weekend, adding approximately $16 million to its domestic haul. Meanwhile, Ang Lee’s pricey movie “Gemini Man” starring Will Smith continues to falter on its second weekend after its lackluster debut, bringing in just $8.5 million to place fifth.

Meanwhile, Taika Waititi‘s satirical black comedy “Jojo Rabbit” has a solid start upon its limited release. It raked in an estimated $350,000 in just 5 locations domestically, or a $70,000 per theater average.

Top Ten Movies at Weekend Box Office for Oct. 18-20:

  1. Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” – $36 million
  2. Joker” – $29.2 million
  3. Zombieland: Double Tap” – $26.7 million
  4. The Addams Family” – $16 million
  5. Gemini Man” – $8.5 million
  6. Abominable” – $3.5 million
  7. Downton Abbey” – $3.1 million
  8. Judy” – $2 million
  9. Hustlers” – $2 million
  10. It Chapter Two” – $1.5