'Maleficent' Rules The Box Office With $70 Million Debut, 'A Million Ways To Die In The West' Flops

Disney has another winner on its hands as "Maleficent," starring Angelina Jolie, was the big winner at the weekend box office. Opening in 3,948 theaters, the movie earned $70 million while the other wide release of the weekend, "A Million Ways to Die in the West" scored a disappointing $17 million and finished in third place.

As noted by the Hollywood Reporter, "Maleficent" was a big hit with female audiences, targeting the same demographic that has made "Frozen" a global blockbuster, and served as a great counter-programming option. Most of the recent summer movies, such as "Godzilla," "X-Men: Days of Future Past" and "Neighbors," have been male-targeted releases, and "Maleficent" provides a new option for families as well, as the last such release was "Rio 2" on April 11. According to THR, "Maleficent" was Jolie's best opening to date and the drew a 60 percent female audience. "Maleficent" earned an additional $100.6 million from the international box office, bringing its global total to $170.6 million. While critics have been split on "Maleficent," currently at 50 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, audiences have no such ambivalence: It received an "A" CinemaScore.

Much like Disney riding high from the success of "Frozen," the team behind "A Million Ways to Die in the West" may have expected a similar response due to Seth MacFarlane and the success of "Ted." Instead of a blockbuster, "A Million Ways" fell flat and earned $17 million at the box office, "Ted" earned $54.4 million in its debut in 2012. "Ted" filled the comedy gap during the summer of 2012 but "A Million Ways" is facing tough competition in "Neighbors." THR also noted the tough task of selling audiences on a Western movie. "A Million Ways" earned a "B" CinemaScore but the movie is not expected to be a huge loss for Universal, with a reported budget of $40 million. "A Million Ways" earned $10.3 million overseas to bring its worldwide total to $27.4 million.

Last week's box-office champion, "X-Men: Days of Future Past" dropped to second place and earned $32.6 million in its sophomore week in theaters. To date, the latest "X-Men" movie has earned $162.1 million domestically and another $338.1 million overseas, and has become the highest-grossing film in the franchise, the $500.2 million earned by "Days of Future Past" besting the $459.4 million earned by "X-Men: The Last Stand" in 2006, reports THR.

The full weekend box office, courtesy of Box Office Mojo, can be viewed below.