Harry Potter moved over for a lion, a witch and a wardrobe this weekend.
Disney scored a much-hoped-for box office hit as The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe debuted at $67.1 million, the second-biggest December opening ever, reports EW.com.
The movie, based on C.S. Lewis’ children’s fantasy, fell short of the $72.6 million record left by The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, but it managed to surpass the first two films in the trilogy. It is also the third biggest opening of 2005 so far.
Reuters reports that Disney has high hopes for a Narnia franchise that can reinforce its reputation for top family movies.
“This is one of those movies that’s playing to everybody, and everybody is loving it,” said Chuck Viane, Disney distribution chief.
The political thriller Syriana expanded into more theatres and climbed to second place with $12 million, says Comingsoon.net. In third place, Harry Potter added $10.3 million to his Goblet of Fire, for a total of $244.1 million.
Meanwhile, Aeon Flux did a belly flop, dropping 63.5% in its second weekend to sixth place.
In limited release, Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain made $545,000 from just five theatres – the ninth highest per theatre average ever for a film.
