Per The Hollywood Reporter, the Angelina Jolie starrer opened to a pleasing $4.2 million Thursday night in North America from more than 3,000 theaters. The film opened abroad on Wednesday and has earned $20.1 million in its first two days from 35 territories, including Russia, Germany, Australia, the U.K., Korea and Brazil.
Box-office observers believe, with the market flooded with male driven properties like Godzilla and The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Maleficent will benefit greatly from targeting girls and moms, as well as families.
The Disney tentpole topped the $3.9 million earned in midnight runs by the studio's own Alice in Wonderland and the $2 million grossed by Oz the Great and Powerful last year upon rolling out at 9 p.m.
Disney reports plenty of adults turned out Thursday night for Maleficent, and that 46 percent of ticket buyers were male, reflected in the fact that IMAX locations turned in $560,000, or 13.3 percent of the $4.2 million.
The live action take on the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale has a strong shot at crossing $60 million domestically this weekend, pushing holdover X-Men: Days of Future Past out of the top perch at the box office.
Seth MacFarlane's A Million Ways to Die in the West is projected to come in 3rd behind Days of Future Past, which is expected to earn $38 to $40 million in its 2nd weekend.