LOS ANGELES, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Angelina Jolie's "Maleficent" defeated last week winner "X-Men: Days of Future Past", becoming the new ruler of north American box office.
Disney's "Maleficent" was off to a strong start in its first weekend with 70 million U.S. dollars from 3,948 locations, according to Rentrak.
"Maleficent" is Jolie's biggest onscreen appearance in four years since "The Tourist" premiered in 2010. It surpassed 2008's Wanted which earned 50.9 million dollars, representing the largest opening weekend performance ever for Jolie.
"Maleficent" grossed an estimated 6.7 million dollars from IMAX locations, which represented 9.6 percent of this weekend's overall gross. 3D grosses from all formats were responsible for 35 percent of this weekend's overall gross.
According to Disney, 45 percent of the film's total audience are family audiences. The audience breakdown for the film skewed towards female moviegoers (60 percent) and slightly towards moviegoers over the age of 25 (51 percent).
"Maleficent" received a strong A rating on CinemaScore, and earned a 51 percent positive critics from Rotten Tomatoes.
"X-Men: Days of Future Past" was down a sharp 64 percent from last weekend's three-day frame to place in second with an estimated 32.6 million dollars. The gross total of the firm in 10 days is 162 million dollars.
The raunchy send-up of westerns from Seth MacFarlane, "A Million Ways To Doe In The West," debuted with its R rating, and 17.1 million dollars from 3158 locations. The film received a so- so B rating on CinemaScore. Only 33 percent of critics on Rotten Tomatoes recommended it.
Rounding out the 10 most popular films in North America this weekend, as estimated by studios, were "Godzilla" (12.2 million dollars), "Blended" (8.4 million), "Neighbors" (7.7 million), "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" (3.8 million), "Million Dollar Arm" (3.7 million), "Chef" (2 million) and "The Other Woman" (1.4 million).