Los Angeles/New York - Maleficent, Walt Disney's special-effects laden take on Sleeping Beauty's wicked fairy godmother, captivated movie goers collecting $70m in ticket sales to win the weekend box office stakes.
The movie, starring Angelina Jolie as the black-robed villain, finished far ahead of last week's winner, X-Men: Days of Future Past, which took $32.6m at US and Canadian theatres.
Seth MacFarlane's western comedy A Million Ways to Die in the West was third with $17.1m for the three days from Friday to Sunday.