Maleficent has shot to top of the World Box Office & took $70 Million in the US, making it Jolie's biggest opening

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“Maleficent,” Walt Disney’s special-effects laden take on “Sleeping Beauty’s” wicked fairy mother, captivated moviegoers, collecting $70 million in ticket sales to win the North American weekend box office stakes.

The movie starring Angelina Jolie as the black-robed villain finished far ahead of last week’s winner, “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” which took $32.6 million at US and Canadian theaters.

Seth MacFarlane’s western comedy “A Million Ways to Die in the West” was third with $17.1 million for the three days from Friday to Sunday, according to box office tracking firm Rentrak.

Produced for $180 million, “Maleficent” received mixed reviews but opened strongly with $4.2 million on Thursday night and conjured up more than 80 percent of advance ticket sales for the weekend, according to movie ticketing site Fandango.

"Maleficent," Walt Disney's special-effects laden take on "Sleeping Beauty's" wicked fairy mother, captivated moviegoers, collecting $70 million in ticket sales to win the North American weekend box office stakes. The film is the latest in a line of reimagined classics, following "Alice in Wonderland" in 2010 and "Oz the Great and Powerful" in 2013.

Dave Hollis, head of distribution for Walt Disney Studios, noting it hoped for an opening of around $60 million. “Maleficent” took in another $100 at overseas box offices.

“We’re very excited with this start.” Hollis also said momentum built through weekend on positive word of mouth. With schools beginning to let out and a “general absence of family product in this marketplace,” Disney was optimistic for the film continuing its strong performance.

Angelina Jolie as Maleficent, with her daughter Vivienne Jolie-Pitt, portraying Young Aurora, in a scene from “Maleficent.” (Photo AP)

Actress Angelina Jolie said that she was thrilled her latest film "Maleficent", a modern retelling of the life of Sleeping Beauty's arch-nemesis, had debuted at the top of the box office.

Walt Disney Pictures presents “Maleficent”

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Maleficent tells the journey of most iconic villain from the classic Sleeping Beauty and the elements of her betrayal that ultimately turn her pure heart to stone. Driven by revenge and a fierce desire to protect the moors over which she presides, Maleficent cruelly places an irrevocable curse upon the human king’s newborn infant Aurora.

As the child grows, Aurora is caught in the middle of the seething conflict between the forest kingdom she has grown to love and the human kingdom that holds her legacy. This how Maleficent realizes that Aurora may hold the key to peace in the land and is forced to take drastic actions that will change both worlds forever.

Maleficent, starring Angelina Jolie in the title role as Disney’s ultimate villain. The live-action film explores the origins of the evil fairy Maleficent and what led her to curse Princess Aurora in Disney’s animated classic Sleeping Beauty. Leading a team of visionary filmmakers known for creating and transporting audiences to new and exciting worlds, Academy Award®-winning production designer Robert Stromberg (Avatar, Disney’s Alice in Wonderland and Oz The Great and Powerful) will direct with a script by Linda Woolverton (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Alice in Wonderland). Maleficent is produced by Joe Roth (Disney’s Alice in Wonderland and Oz The Great and Powerful).

Walt Disney Pictures unveils the second trailer of the film featuring Lana Del Rey’s rendition of the song Once Upon a Dream.

The song was known for the Disney’s classic animated film Sleeping Beauty will be featured in full during the end-credits of Maleficent. The dark Disney comedy also stars Sharlto Copley, Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Miranda Richardson, Juno Temple and Lesley Manville.

Maleficient will be showing in all cinemas beginning May 28, 2014. This is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International through Columbia Pictures.