We knew Disney’s ‘Maleficent: Mistress of Evil‘ was in trouble last Thursday when the preview screening numbers were low. It showed a sign of disinterest from the general audience.
And that continued throughout its opening weekend. The sequel to the 2014 hit ‘Maleficent’ made $36 million during its domestic opening weekend. It was enough to take first place, but that’s where the good news ends.
The movie worked with a budget of around $185 million, so you have to believe they were hoping for a bigger opening weekend.
The first film in the franchise made $69 million during its opening weekend and went on to make $758 million globally. They were hoping for similar success with this sequel.
Given its robust marketing spend, sources speculate ‘Maleficent: Mistress of Evil’ will need to pull in at least $475 million globally to break even and closer to $500 million to turn a profit theatrically.
It’ll be close. It should have success overseas, but will it hit $500 million? That’s still up for debate.
Meanwhile, ‘Zombieland: Double Tap‘ opened last weekend as well and made $26.7 million, which is more than the projected $23 million total. It’s also more than the original film made ($24.7 million) during its opening weekend back in 2009.
