Maleficent was originally scheduled for a March 14, 2014 release, before it was changed to July 2, 2014.[99][100] By September 2013, the film's release date was preponed to May 30, 2014, as Pixar's The Good Dinosaur faced production issues and was delayed to 2015.[101][102] A private exhibition of props and costumes from the film was held at Kensington Palace in London on May 8, 2014, serving as a fundraiser for Great Ormond Street Hospital.[103][104] The world premiere of Maleficent took place at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood on May 28, 2014.[105]
On November 22, 2018, a one-time special screening of the film was held in Sofia, Bulgaria at New Bulgarian University, where Bulgarian actor Peter Baykov does the dubbing for every character in the film by changing his voice from male to female live. He later performs part of the film trailer live during the semi-finals on the Got Talent show in Bulgaria in 2019 which leads him to the season finale.[106][107] He would later be cast as Prince Philip in the Bulgarian dub of the sequel, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.[108]
In September 2020, the film returned to theaters in the United Kingdom following their reopening from closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Box office
Maleficent earned a gross of $241.4 million in the US and Canada, and $517.1 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $758.5 million against a budget of $180 million.[2] Calculating in all expenses, Deadline Hollywood estimated that the film made a profit of $190.77 million, making it the sixth most profitable film of 2014.[109] Worldwide, in its opening weekend, the film earned $175.5 million,[110][111] $9 million of which were from IMAX locations.[112] It is also the biggest debut among films starring Angelina Jolie,[112] and the actress' highest-grossing film of all time worldwide,[113][114] as well as the fourth-highest grossing 2014 film (behind Transformers: Age of Extinction, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, and Guardians of the Galaxy), and the 15th Disney-distributed film to surpass the $700 million mark at the worldwide box office.[115] The film is also one of four Walt Disney Studios releases in 2014 to gross over $500 million; the other titles being Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Big Hero 6.[116]
In North America, Maleficent earned $4.2 million in Thursday-night showings, surpassing the midnight or late-night grosses of previous live-action fantasy films, Alice in Wonderland, Oz the Great and Powerful[117][118] and Snow White and the Huntsman. By the end of its opening day (including late-night Thursday earnings), the film earned $24.3 million, similar to Oz, but ahead of Snow White and the Huntsman and behind Alice.[119] Maleficent finished its debut weekend at first place with $69.4 million[110] ($6.7 million of which was earned from IMAX locations and 35% of which was earned from 3D showings),[120][121] which exceeded Disney's expectations of a $60 million[122] and making it the largest opening-weekend performance for a live-action film starring Jolie (a record previously held by her 2008 film Wanted),[120] as well as the third-highest opening weekend for a solo female star (behind the first two films in The Hunger Games series).[123] Disney reported that 46% of ticket buyers in Thursday previews were male,[117] while weekend reports said family audiences accounted for 45% of the film's total audience, and couples and teens accounted for 38% and 18%, respectively.[120][122] Female audiences and moviegoers over 25 years old held respective proportions of 60% and 51%.[120] Dave Hollis, head of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, attributed this success to "some momentum and great word-of-mouth."[122] During its first week, the film earned $93.8 million, ahead of Snow White yet behind Oz and Alice.[124] In its second weekend, Maleficent dropped by 50.6% to $34.3 million, finishing in second place.[110] It experienced a smaller second-weekend drop than Snow White,[125][126] yet still bigger than Oz and Alice.[127] In North America, Maleficent is the eighth-highest-grossing 2014 film.[128]
Maleficent opened outside North America on the same weekend as North America, earning $20.1 million from 35 territories in its first two days (May 28–29, 2014).[129] During its opening weekend, the film topped the box office with $106.1 million from 47 territories.[111] Its largest opening weekends were in China ($22.2 million),[130] Mexico ($14.0 million), and Russia and the CIS ($13.0 million).[112] On the second weekend of release, Maleficent fell to $61.7 million, earning from 52 markets.[131][132] It was in first place at the box office outside North America on three weekends, its first, third ($39.2 million)[133][134] and fourth ($47.9 million).[135]
Maleficent is the fourth-highest grossing 2014 film,[136] and Angelina Jolie's highest-grossing live-action film.[113] In total earnings, the film's top markets after North America are Japan ($57.6 million), China ($47.7 million), Mexico ($46.2 million), Russia ($37.7 million), Brazil ($33.2 million), the United Kingdom ($31.7 million), Venezuela ($24.5 million), and Italy ($19.1 million).[137] It was also the most watched film at the Maltese box office in 2014, enjoying an eighteen-week run.[138]
Commercial analysis
Dave Lewis, writing for HitFix, predicted that although Disney fairy tales and Angelina Jolie's performance might attract audiences, Maleficent would not gross even as much as Oz the Great and Powerful, explaining that the film was released on the same time frame with competitive releases such as X-Men: Days of Future Past, Godzilla, and A Million Ways to Die in the West,[139] though it outperformed those films later on. Boxoffice wrote that Maleficent had a successful marketing campaign, featured Jolie in the title role, and its "female-driven" themes and plot aimed at women. However, the site also noted that the film would have to compete with other summer releases, and the character of Maleficent may not attract young children.[140] Todd Cunningham of The Wrap shared the same opinion, writing, "[the film's] connecting with parents and that Jolie's considerable star power is having a big impact."[141][142] Wells Fargo's Marci Ryvicker predicted that Maleficent might be "too dark and scary to be profitable" and was likely to force Disney "into a write-down", as reported by The New York Times; while RBC Capital Markets' David Bank commented that "It's definitely in the 'not a sure thing' bucket."[143][144][145] Wall St. Cheat Sheet explained that the film approached to a more "grown-up" and "sinister" aspect of the classic, and targeted for an older audience like young adults. "It's just too scary for younger children," the site wrote.[146] ScreenRant added that the PG rating of the film would "fill a void in the marketplace, which is currently without a traditional "family friendly" option."[147] Box Office Mojo primarily compared the film with 2012's Snow White and the Huntsman (another film that also focused on a fairy tale villain), predicting that Maleficent "has a good chance" of matching Snow White's gross in North America box office.[148] The film, however, ended up grossing double the amount projected.
Variety wrote that the film's opening weekend outperforming initial box-office projections was later attributed by analysts in part to Disney's successful marketing to the "potent demographic" (female audiences) much like the studio accomplished with Frozen, in which both films feature a strong female lead.[149] Disney argued that a lack of family-friendly options in the marketplace would "bode well for Maleficent's [box-office] performance" in its two first weeks of release.[149]
The cost of the film was offset by a rebate from the UK in the amount of £23,535,108 ($37 million in 2012, the period in which it was shot).[150]
Home media
Maleficent was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on Blu-ray, DVD, Blu-ray 3D, and digital download on November 4, 2014.[151] The film topped the home-video sales chart in its first week of release.[152] As of February 2015, Maleficent has made over $74 million in total home-video sales.[153] It was the seventh best-selling title of 2014 with 3.6 million units sold.[154] Maleficent was released on 4K UHD Blu-ray on September 24, 2019.[155]
