The remarkable 16-week run atop the box-office that “Frozen” has enjoyed in Japan has ended, and it took Angelina Jolie‘s “Maleficent” to do it.
Disney’s fantasy update opened to $7.1 million — the year’s biggest for a live-action movie there — to displace “Frozen” after four months. The Disney Animation blockbuster has taken in more than $240 million from Japan since opening at No. 1 there on March 15.
“Frozen” is the highest-grossing Disney film ever in Japan, and ranks behind only “Titanic” as the biggest box-office hit ever in that country. “Frozen” is the biggest animated movie of all time, with more than $1.2 billion in global grosses.
Also read: ‘Angelina Jolie’s ‘Maleficent’ at $400 Million in Foreign Box Office, Over $600 Million Worldwide
“Maleficent,” by far Jolie’s biggest movie ever, is up to $630 million globally.
Trailers for “Maleficent” have been playing ahead of “Frozen” throughout its record run in Japan, where the Disney brand is huge.
“We’ve had an incredible run with ‘Frozen’ and it’s been a terrific platform for exposing audiences to ‘Maleficent’,” Disney’s head of distribution Dave Hollis told TheWrap. “There are some significant similarities between the films — its female-empowering message, for one — and we think it will be embraced there.”