Pamela McClintock of THR:
Breathing life back into the beleaguered box office, Sam Raimi's 3D fantasy-adventure Oz the Great and Powerful hit a mighty $80.3 million in its North American debut and $69.9 million overseas for a global opening of $150.2 million.
Disney and producer Joe Roth hope to launch a new franchise with Oz, which scored the top North Amerian debut of 2013, as well as the third-best March opening of all time after last year's The Hunger Games ($152.5 million) and fellow Disney fantasy-adventure Alice in Wonderland, which debuted to $116.1 million in early March 2010.
The Wizard of Oz origins pic tells the story of how a fast-talking Kansas circus worker (James Franco) became the Wizard of Oz. The three witches central to the story are played by Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams.
Raimi's Oz did solid, but not spectacular, business internationally, where the original 1939 film Wizard of Oz isn't as well-known. Russia led with $15 million, followed by the U.K. ($5.7 million), Mexico ($5.1 million) and Australia ($5 million). Oz opened to $4.2 million in Germany, where it was in a close battle with holdover Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters.
Oz opened in a total of 46 territories, roughly 80 percent of the international marketplace.
In North America, Oz saw a hefty 35 percent as families turned out in force, making up 41 percent of the audience. Couples made up 43 percent, while teenagers made up 16 percent. The movie skewed slightly female (52 percent).
"The families absolutely came out, but we also did great business during the evening," said Disney distribution chief Dave Hollis."This has become a water-cooler movie and gets people back in the mood to see movies."
Disney spent north of $300 million on Oz, between the $215 million production budget and a hefty worldwide marketing campaign. It is opening in the same corridor as Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, starring Johnny Depp. Alice received an A- CinemaScore from moviegoers, versus a B+ for Oz.
As expected, Oz is making life impossible for Bryan Singer's 3D fantasy-adventure Jack and the Giant Slayer, which fell 63 percent in its second weekend to $10 million for a domestic total of $43.8 million. The tentpole, from New Line and Legendary Pictures, came in No. 2 domestically.
The weekend's other new wide release, romantic thriller Dead Man Down, fell flat in its opening, coming in No. 4 with roughly $5.5 million. Marking the English-language debut of Niels Arden Oplev, Dead Man Down reteams the filmmaker with his The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo star Noomi Rapace.
Colin Farrell, Terrence Howard and Dominic Cooper also star in the movie, which is being distributed domestically by FilmDistrict. IM Global, Original Films and Frequency Films are partners on the film.
Next Up: Steve Carell is The Incredible Burt Wonderstone; Halle Berry gets The Call to save Abigail Breslin's life; And James Franco competes with himself as he entices Spring Breakers Ashley Benson, Vanessa Hudgens Selena Gomez and Rachel Korine to kill an arch rival
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