BOX OFFICE: OZ: THE GREAT AND POWERFUL Closing In On A Worldwide Cume Of $250 Million

That sequel we've heard rumblings about is now looking extremely likely as Sam Raimi's Oz: The Great And Powerful has managed to hold on to the top spot at the North American box office, while also increasing its international cume over the past week. Read on for details!

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By Josh Wilding - 3/16/2013

Despite facing off against new releases such as The Call and The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, Oz: The Great And Powerful has managed to hold on to the #1 spot at the North American box office this weekend. With some kids out of school this past week, it performed steadily over the past five days, with a current total of $144.9 million (a number which includes $11.4 million on Friday and the projected $42 million for the next two days). It took only six days for The Wizard of Oz prequel to cross $100 million; a result that Disney are very pleased with. "We benefited by the fact that that we were the first big event film which had the halo effect of people talking about it over the weekend and wanting to go see it if they didn’t have the chance," said one studio exec. Internationally, the film crossed $100 million on Friday, giving it a current worldwide cume of $245 million. Read my review of Oz: The Great and Powerful by clicking HERE.

"Oz The Great and Powerful" imagines the origins of L. Frank Baum’s beloved character, the Wizard of Oz. When Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he thinks he’s hit the jackpot—fame and fortune are his for the taking—that is until he meets three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone’s been expecting. Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants, Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Putting his magical arts to use through illusion, ingenuity—and even a bit of wizardry—Oscar transforms himself not only into the great and powerful Wizard of Oz but into a better man as well.

STARRING:

James Franco as Oscar Diggs/Oz
Mila Kunis as Theodora
Michelle Williams as Glinda the Good Witch
Rachel Weisz as Evanora
Zach Braff as Frank and Finley
Joey King as China Girl
Abigail Spencer as Mrs. Hamilton
Ted Raimi as Skeptic/Tinker
Tony Cox as Knuck
Tim Holmes as The Strong Man

RELEASE DATE: Out now!

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26 Comments

	thorhulk77 - 3/16/2013, 11:21 AM Login to report abuse It was a good movie^ Not great, but good.
	Superguy15 - 3/16/2013, 11:24 AM Login to report abuse Looks like we'll see an OZ PART 2. @Earz DREDD really deserves a sequel. There are so many more stories to be told with Judge Dredd. Would be cool to see it turned into a TV show.
	Kingdork - 3/16/2013, 11:44 AM Login to report abuse Well Dredd isn't a family flick now is it? There's really nothing to compare here.
	QuietStorm - 3/16/2013, 11:50 AM Login to report abuse Dredd was dope. Better than expected. Urban was badass. Deserves a sequel or spin off show on HBO so it can get gory. Gonna see OZ tonight with the Mrs.
	subzero1077 - 3/16/2013, 11:52 AM Login to report abuse Awesome movie, definitely deserves the praise!
	agentawsume - 3/16/2013, 12:03 PM Login to report abuse I'm probably part of the minority group who didnt like OZ. I just felt a lot of the characters were so bland or annoying (cough, the monkey, cough) I saw the plot twist coming from a mile away and I still cannot see James Franco as Oz. Also I do agree that Dredd deserves a sequel. He may not be Superman or Iron Man, but he is still a badass.
	SlaveMasterFlexXx - 3/16/2013, 12:31 PM Login to report abuse Still have to see Oz don't see the point in a sequel that would just be a remake of the original. As for Dredd, urban was great but get over it for a 50 mil budget they should had more than just him playing donkey kong going up the building and actually explored Mega City. Berry Sucks.
	Tony93 - 3/16/2013, 12:39 PM Login to report abuse by the way I have a question SPOILER: was that lion that Franco scared off the Lion thats afraid? If so, that be awesome, just like a weak aslan
	fortycals - 3/16/2013, 1:17 PM Login to report abuse Oz was good, but fell for the normal prequel problem. We already know how it ends. They never touched on the ruby slippers which imo was left out for the sequel. Other than being entirely predictable, which you should expect, the movie looked really good. I liked franco and meg. overall i enjoyed myself and my girls did too, so it was worth the bread.
	Scabsallover - 3/16/2013, 1:20 PM Login to report abuse There were throw backs to wizard of oz, left and right, but it wasn't that good. Had Raimi's thumbprint all over it and Mila Kunis was very miscast, so was Franco in a sense. I liked it, but I didn't expect much. It had a certain charm that was lost once it transitioned from b/w to color. And by the way, was I the only person thinking DBZ in the climax?
	HRDWYR - 3/16/2013, 1:31 PM Login to report abuse @Tony93: yep. There also a few more nods to other chars (Aunt Em,Henry, the Scarecrow, the horse of a different color, etc). This is a children's/family movie. The original 15 books were written for children. Baum wrote these stories as something to tell his child at bedtime. You don't have deep character development for a 5 year old. This isn't the diary of Anne Frank. Why are you looking for Oscar(wink)-winning performances? You don't want a "Pacino" as the Wizard. This was a movie that was intended to take us back to Oz and smile. This was a pure popcorn movie movie for the kids. Just keep that in mind when you armchair Eberts tear down someone else's creative work. If you think you can do better - get off your @$$ make some thing better. Enjoy it for what it is...fun. -just my two cents-
	Feedthemachine - 3/16/2013, 1:35 PM Login to report abuse Great movie. I'm excited to see this become an epic franchise.
	Spidey91 - 3/16/2013, 1:35 PM Login to report abuse the china doll :'(
	SuspenseSmith - 3/16/2013, 1:55 PM Login to report abuse @thorhulk Way to use the moral of the story in describing the movie. lol Great movie. Very good kids film for sure. Well deserved.
	SuspenseSmith - 3/16/2013, 1:57 PM Login to report abuse @Tony (SPOILER) Yep, that was a clear cameo of the Cowardly Lion. Also, that "army" most likely is the origin of the Scarecrow. And the "tinkerer" made the tin man, I think. Or he made Tic Toc from Return to Oz.
	SuspenseSmith - 3/16/2013, 2:01 PM Login to report abuse There were "Easter eggs" all the way through the film. You could see the horse of different color grazing in the fields outside of the Emerald City, the crows returned from the first movie.... Everything was pretty clever.
	MrCritic115 - 3/16/2013, 2:33 PM Login to report abuse Shit movie... good thing I didn't pay anything to see it.
	PhoenixKing - 3/16/2013, 2:50 PM Login to report abuse It was an amazing movie, which I really enjoyed. Agreeing with @HRDWYR, I think people are criticizing this film and taking their negative opinions way too far. It is meant to be a fun, family experience... not some deep psychological thriller.
	TheHeat - 3/16/2013, 4:00 PM Login to report abuse All these comments are making me want to go see Oz.
	BlackAmerica - 3/16/2013, 4:18 PM Login to report abuse It was a great movie that'd I'd be willing to see again and again. So many references to the original and it remains true to it and become a great prequel. I can't wait for a sequel and more development of these characters. I went out and bought the entire book series after it. Great books and so easy to read. I recommend them (they're kinda dark in spots with tin man beheading a tiger and the head splits in two and rolls over his feet.)
	SuspenseSmith - 3/16/2013, 4:20 PM Login to report abuse @TheHeat Matinee price.
	gastitdk - 3/16/2013, 5:26 PM Login to report abuse This is one of the worsts films I've ever seen, cheesy, predictable, anticlimatic, boring...the only thing worth the while from it are the actors, but you can see that they are trying to do their best with the shitty screenplay they were given. Still, it's no wonder why it's at the top of the box office, because there aren't any other good movies to watch.
	BanthaSkull - 3/16/2013, 6:21 PM Login to report abuse @ hrdwyr Couldn't have said it better myself.
	Spidey91 - 3/16/2013, 7:12 PM Login to report abuse how dares this movie be charming and colorful and fun instead of a dark and gritty psichological thriller dammit :P
	tarZen - 3/17/2013, 5:16 AM Login to report abuse @earzmundo If you haven't seen it, how would you know it's shit? If you've seen it, well yes then, I guess people pay to see shit. And what have you done lately with you life?
	Rambaldi47 - 3/18/2013, 12:59 PM Login to report abuse I'm looking forward to seeing this and I hope they do make a sequel, aka Wizard of Oz. And the original film is SO different from the book that I think it can be done and not draw too many comparisons. The slippers aren't even ruby in the book! There is so much more to the story, and it would be great to see Disney adapt all of the Oz books, or at least most of them.