Opening to mostly mediocre reviews (read ours here), Disney’s Cinderella has had a whopping opening weekend.
Showing in just under 3,900 screens, Cinderella has taken $70 million domestically, with an extra $62.4 million from worldwide showings – giving it a grand total of $132.4 million, exceeding all expectations.
In terms of Disney’s other live-action reboots/sequels, Cinderella has achieved a bigger domestic opening than Maleficent… just. The hugely successful Maleficent (which grossed more than $600 million worldwide) opened to $69.4 million, but did have the advantage of being released in the more profitable June. However, it hasn’t quite reached the levels of Oz: The Great and Powerful ($79.1 million) or Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland ($116.1 million), both of which were released in March.
The story of “Cinderella” follows the fortunes of young Ella (Lily James) whose merchant father remarries following the death of her mother. Eager to support her loving father, Ella welcomes her new stepmother (Cate Blanchett) and her daughters Anastasia (Holliday Grainger) and Drisella (Sophie McShera) into the family home. But, when Ella’s father unexpectedly passes away, she finds herself at the mercy of a jealous and cruel new family. Finally relegated to nothing more than a servant girl covered in ashes, and spitefully renamed Cinderella, Ella could easily begin to lose hope. Yet, despite the cruelty inflicted upon her, Ella is determined to honor her mother’s dying words and to “have courage and be kind.” She will not give in to despair nor despise those who mistreat her. And then there is the dashing stranger she meets in the woods. Unaware that he is really a prince, not merely an apprentice at the Palace, Ella finally feels she has met a kindred soul. It appears her fortunes may be about to change when the Palace sends out an open invitation for all maidens to attend a ball, raising Ella’s hopes of once again encountering the charming Kit (Richard Madden). Alas, her stepmother forbids her to attend and callously rips apart her dress. But, as in all good fairy tales, help is at hand, and a kindly beggar woman (Helena Bonham Carter) steps forward and – armed with a pumpkin and a few mice – changes Cinderella’s life forever.
Out now in the US and released on March 27th in the UK, Cinderella is directed by Kenneth Branagh (Thor) and stars Lily James (Downton Abbey), Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine), Richard Madden (Game of Thrones), Helena Bonham-Carter (Alice in Wonderland), Hayley Atwell (Avengers: Age of Ultron), Derek Jacobi (Gladiator) and Stellan Skarsgaard (Thor: The Dark World).
