"OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL" A scene from the destruction of China Towne in Disneyâ¬"s fantastical adventure â¬SOz The Great and Powerful.⬠The film, produced by Joe Roth, directed by Sam Raimi, written by Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire, stars James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams and Zach Braff. â¬SOz The Great and Powerful⬠opens in U.S. theaters on March 8, 2013. © 2012 Disney Enterprises, Inc. "OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL" A scene from the destruction of China Towne in Disneyâ¬"s fantastical adventure â¬SOz The Great and Powerful.⬠The film, produced by Joe Roth, directed by Sam Raimi, written by Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire, stars James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams and Zach Braff. â¬SOz The Great and Powerful⬠opens in U.S. theaters on March 8, 2013. © 2012 Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Oz the Great and Powerful is living up to its name at the box office. Walt Disney’s 3-D blockbuster led all films for the second week in a row, taking in $42.2 million (R388.6m) according to studio estimates on Sunday.
Sam Raimi’s prequel to the L Frank Baum classic The Wonderful Wizard of Oz also took in $46.6m overseas, leading to a two-week worldwide total of $281.8m.
That makes Oz easily the biggest hit of the year so far.
“Boy, did we need it,” said Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst for Hollywood.com. “There have been a lot of box office casualties this year. This is the shot in the arm that we needed.”
The box office is down nearly 13 percent from last year.
Among the weekend’s debuts, the Halle Berry thriller The Call far exceeded expectations with a $17.1m opening. The Steve Carell magician comedy The Incredible Burt Wonderstone fared worse, opening with a disappointing $10.3m.
The performances of the two new releases continued a theme of this year: movies targeting female audiences have had more success than male-driven films. The Call was deliberately marketed to women, who made up 61 percent of its audience, Sony said. Burt Wonderstone, starring Carell and Jim Carrey as rival Las Vegas magicians, sought a young male audience that didn’t materialise.
Female turnout has driven most of the box office hits of the year, including the Melissa McCarthy comedy Identity Thief and the vampire romance Warm Bodies. Macho films like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s The Last Stand and Sylvester Stallone’s Bullet to the Head have fizzled.
Opening in just three theatres in New York and Los Angeles was another film starring James Franco, who plays the Wizard in Oz. Spring Breakers, a dreamy trip of day-glo debauchery starring Franco, Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens, opened with a strong $90 000 per-theatre average ahead of its wider release next weekend.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday to Sunday at US and Canadian theatres, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are included:
1. Oz the Great and Powerful, $42.2m. ($46.6m international.)
2. The Call, $17.1m.
3. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, $10.3m.
4. Jack the Giant Slayer, $6.2m. ($10m international.)
5. Identity Thief, $4.5m. ($745 000 international.)
6. Snitch, $3.5m. ($130 000 international.)
7. 21 and Over, $2.6m. ($1m international.)
8. Silver Linings Playbook, $2.6m. ($3.7m international.)
9. Safe Haven, $2.5m. ($1.2m international.)
10. Escape From Planet Earth, $2.3m. – Sapa-AP