Audiences slip the glass slipper on Cinderella at the box office

The early weekend box office numbers are in and, as expected, one movie among all others managed to hit hard. Here’s what went down:

The live action version of Disney’s classic Cinderella had a fantastic opening weekend, debuting in first place with $72 million. This one definitely had an audience desperate for family fare, and with some decent reviews going along with it, Kenneth Branagh’s film certainly scored and scored big time. I don’t think anyone really ever thought of Branagh as a blockbuster film director, but with two big hits with Thor and now Cinderella under his belt, he’s certainly become a go-to for Disney. Could a return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe be next? With this sort of acclaim, I wouldn’t be surprised.

Opening in a very distant second place was Run All Night with Liam Neeson, which could only muster up $10 million. That’s a far cry from previous Neeson openings, which makes one wonder if the actor needs to back off a little bit from the action genre.

As for the rest of the top five, Kingsman: The Secret Service continued its winning ways, placing third with 6.2 million as it crossed over the $100 million mark. In fourth place was Focus with $5.9 million, while closing things out in fifth was The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel with $5.7 million.

As for CHAPPiE, that movie crashed and burned hard in its second weekend, dropping from first to sixth place with $5.2 million.

So, to recap, here were our predictions:

1) Cinderella – $62 million
2) Run All Night – $14 million
3) CHAPPiE – $7.5 million
4) Focus – $7 million
5) Kingsman: The Secret Service – $4.3 million

And here’s how the weekend turned out:

1) Cinderella – $72 million
2) Run All Night – $10 million
3) Kingsman: The Secret Service– $6.2 million
4) Focus – $5.9 million
5) The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – $5.7 million

Next weekend sees the release of Insurgent, Do You Believe? and The Gunman. Be sure to check back on Friday to see our predictions.