Weekend Box Office Report: May 30-June 1, 2014

Maleficent rules the box office!

Audiences went looking for something a little wicked this weekend, putting Disney's MALEFICENT at the top of the box office with $70 million!

The live-action origin of the iconic villainess put Angelina Jolie in the title role and produced the biggest opening weekend yet for the actress. The pricey PG fairy tale (which reportedly cost around $170 million) also dazzled international crowds for an additional $100 million.

Whether it was the appeal of Jolie or the familiarity of the fantasy material, MALEFICENT opened better than 2012's SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN ($56.2 million). But it trailed the first weekends of other recent big-budget fairy tales OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL ($79.1 million) and ALICE IN WONDERLAND ($116.1 million).

MALEFICENT's FX-filled spectacle didn't completely win over critics (50% on Rotten Tomatoes), but audiences were feeling the magic and gave it an 'A' CinemaScore, which could help give the family movie continued momentum into the summer.

Then again, that grade may not actually have much impact — after all, X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST also received an 'A' CinemaScore, but in its second weekend it dropped to #2 with $32.6 million, losing 64% of business from its opening. (Some remain unconvinced that CinemaScore plays much of a role in a movie's success, and it certainly appears to be even more unreliable when it comes to franchises and blockbusters, which tend to be frontloaded for opening weekends.)

Still, the all-star Marvel mutant party has already generated a 10-day domestic total of $162 million, and it's also reached a $500 million global total.

While Seth MacFarlane's TED was a surprise success ($550 million worldwide), his R-rated Western comedy A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST was gunned down in third place with a $17 million opening weekend.

Critics thought MacFarlane's ten-gallon hat was around seven gallons flat (33% on Rotten Tomatoes) and paying crowds shrugged with a 'B' CinemaScore, which means A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST may already be riding into the sunset.

GODZILLA was in fourth with $12.2 million as the King of Monsters stomps toward a likely $200 million domestic (it's already past that mark internationally), while Adam Sandler's new romcom BLENDED dipped to fifth with $8.4 million in its second weekend (a 41% drop).

NEIGHBORS is still going strong after a month in release, and THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 is also swinging toward $200 million domestic (and nearly $500 million more overseas), though it could end up being the lowest earner of any Spidey feature.

Closing out the list were MILLION DOLLAR ARM, Jon Favreau's foodie comedy CHEF (still expanding) and the Cameron Diaz romcom THE OTHER WOMAN. Falling off the chart were RIO 2 and HEAVEN IS FOR REAL, and it should be noted that Disney's relentless FROZEN slid past IRON MAN 3 last weekend to become the fifth highest-grossing movie of all time.

Next weekend finds Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt fighting aliens over and over GROUNDHOG DAY-style in the sci-fi actioner EDGE OF TOMORROW, while drama happens in the buzzed THE FAULT IN OUR STARS. 

What June release are you most interested in seeing? VOTE HERE!