KARACHI: This weekend, “Oz: the Great and Powerful” conjured up magic stats at the US and Canadian box office. Disney’s $200 million 3D prequel to L. Frank Baum’s classic “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” made an eye-popping $80.3 million at its debut in the North American Box Office, after a family-based 37% increase on Saturday. It also produced $69.9 million in 46 markets abroad, coming to a total $150.2 million opening weekend globally.
The PG-rated adventure was the third biggest March opening ever, after last year's “The Hunger Games” ($152.5 million) starring Jennifer Lawrence and the 2010 fairy-tale adventure “Alice in Wonderland” ($116.1million) starring Johnny Depp. Last week was also the debut for Bryan Singer's “Jack the Giant Slayer” but it was left in the dust by Oz.
Sam Raimi’s movie Oz: The Great and Powerful tells the tale of the Wizard who Dorothy turns to for advice, and of how he comes to be the Great Wizard of Oz. In the film, immoral circus magician Oscar Diggs (James Franco) suddenly finds himself transported from Kansas to Oz where he meets three evil witches, played by Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams.
Spending millions of dollars on their marketing for months now, Disney’s campaign for the film featured the cross-country flight of a blue Oz-themed hot-air balloon, film-related fashions marketed on shopping channel HSN and an ad during the Super Bowl. Looks like Disney’s hard work paid off.
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