‘Maleficent’ spooks box office with $70M debut

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NEW YORK (AP) — The biggest box-office debut of Angelina Jolie’s career propelled Disney’s twisted fairy tale “Maleficent” to a scary-good $70 million opening.

The PG-rated fantasy beat forecasts to easily top all films over the weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. Though “Maleficent” was early on considered a risky endeavor for Disney that might turn away family audiences by retelling “Sleeping Beauty” from the villain’s perspective, the film emerged as a hit largely because of the draw of Jolie.

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