Pursuits
‘Maleficent’ Casts $70 Million Spell on Filmgoers in Its Debut
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“Maleficent,” Walt Disney Co.’s live-action twist on the animated classic “Sleeping Beauty,” captured the box-office crown with a $70 million weekend debut, surpassing forecasts.
The film, starring Angelina Jolie, pushed past 21st Century Fox Inc.’s “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” which dropped to second with ticket sales of $32.6 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters, Rentrak Corp. said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. “A Million Ways to Die in the West,” the new Seth MacFarlane romp, collected $17.1 million for Universal Pictures to place third.