'Maleficent' Casts Her Spell On Audiences-The Angelina Jolie Film Becomes The Number One Movie In America

Maleficent is bewitching audiences around the global.

The self-proclaimed "Mistress of all Evil," is doing her evil laugh all the way to the bank. The Disney studios retelling of Sleeping Beauty is the number one movie in America this past weekend, casting a spell over audiences and bringing in the big bucks.

At the domestic box office the blockbuster brought in $70 million, making it the biggest move debut ever for star Angelina Jolie.  The fairytale movie bested Kung Fu Panda 2008's, which was her highest debut weekend until now, grossed $60.2 million.

 The film also did quite well overseas, bringing in a total of $100.6 million. With the international numbers, Maleficent, almost recouped the $175 million that it cost to produce the film.

This is just one of the many retellings of classic fairytales in recent years for Disney, so how did this film live up to the other's from the studio?

Oz the Great and Powerful, which premiered in March 2013 as well as Alice in Wonderland (March 2010) both grossed higher during their opening weekends, scoring $79 million and $116 million respectively, but that could just be because the summer is a much tighter market for movies.

The core audiences for the film, according to The Hollywood Reporter, were females, which made up 60 percent of the audience, while half of that was made up of girls under the age of 18. It also proved to be a great date and family movie as couples and families made up 40 percent and 45 percent respectively.

Did you see Maleficent this weekend? Let us know what you thought of it in the comments below.