Angelina Jolie returns to the medium that made her famous this week with Maleficent. The Disney fantasy extravaganza is set to take over the box office this weekend, giving America another new movie. No single movie has been able to dominate the movies this summer, but it is early.
The PG-rated Maleficent cost Disney a whopping $180 million to produce and the studio is hoping that it becomes the international success that 2010’s Alice in Wonderland was. Robert Stromberg, who was production designer on that film, as well as last year’s Oz: The Great and Powerful, directed the new film, which reimagines Sleeping Beauty.
Maleficent isn’t expected to score as big an opening as Oz’s $79.1 million start. Box Office Mojo suggests that $55 million is the best it will do and the mixed reviews aren’t going to help.
Again, this is a Disney property that’s being released in 3D and IMAX and stars an international superstar. Expect the big bucks to come from overseas.
X-Men: Days of Future Past, will, like The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Godzilla, not be able to gain traction. Entertainment Weekly predicts a $40 million second weekend for the film, but that’s not going to be enough to string two No. 1 weekends together.
That’s the main narrative through the first month of the summer box office season. No film has been able to put together two straight No. 1 weekends, even after strong starts.
Seth MacFarlane’s Western comedy A Million Ways To Die In The West is expected to make around $25 million in its first weekend. The star-studded cast should bring in audiences for the follow-up to Ted, but its reviews haven’t been that good.
Godzilla is expected to make north of $10 million in its third weekend, while Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore’s Blended should round out the top 5.
Visit Trailer Park for a run-down of other movies hitting theaters this weekend.
image courtesy of ACE/INFphoto.com