Disney’s much-anticipated prequel to The Wizard of Oz followed the yellow-brick road all the way to the top of the box office this past weekend. The Sam Raimi-directed feature delivered an estimated $80.3 million domestically and $150.3 million worldwide, making it the third highest March opening movie of all-time, right behind Alice in Wonderland and The Hunger Games.
Oz: The Great and Powerful features terrific visual effects created by the team at Sony Pictures Imageworks, Luma and Evil Eye. The pic, which reportedly cost about $215 million to produce, was released day and date in about 80% of the global marketplace. Russia emerged as the highest selling territory with $15 million followed by the U.K. ($5.7 million), Mexico ($5.1 million), Australia ($5 million), and Germany ($4.2 million). The film, which received mixed reviews (rating 61% on RottenTomatoes.com) proved to be critic-proof at the box office.
Next Friday (March 15), animation fans can look forward to catching Goro Miyazaki’s charming period pic From Up on Poppy Hill in theaters, which gets a limited release in various cities in the U.S. via indie studio GKIDS.
