Weekend Box Office: 'Oz: The Great and Powerful' Knocks Down 'Jack the Giant Slayer'
by Shannon Keirnan
No real surprise here: “Oz: The Great and Powerful,” the newest Disney remake, opened to huge audiences this weekend.
Touting itself as the prequel to “The Wizard of Oz,” the James Franco-starring film grossed an impressive $80.2 million this weekend. On its opening night it raked in $24.1 million alone, and over the past few days far surpassed its anticipated $70 million opener.
This gives “Oz” the rank of third best March film opening ever. “Hunger Games” holds the top ranking at a whopping $152.5 million, with Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” coming in second at $116.1 million.
The film also stars Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, and Michelle Williams, and has a rating of 6/10 on Rottentomatoes.com, a ranking which is buoyed largely by the impressive visual effects and somewhat less by the story, according to most critics.
Falling much farther down the rank is “Jack the Giant Slayer,” which only took in $10 million for the weekend, bringing its domestic gross to just $43.8 million.
In third place, defying continual bad reviews, “Identity Thief” still managed to hold a top position with $6.3 million for the weekend. The comedy, which stars Melissa McCarthy and Jason Bateman, has reached $116.5 million in domestic gross.
In fourth place at the box office came “Dead Man Down,” which only opened at $5.3 million for the weekend. Behind that, “Snitch” was close behind with $5.1 million, and a domestic gross of $31.8 million.
Did you have time to hit the theaters this weekend? Which movie caught your eye?