Disney welcomes its ‘Oz’ as biggest 2013 debut
What a difference a year makes.
On March 9, 2012, Walt Disney Pictures released “John Carter,” the sci-fi adventure film that promptly bombed, taking in about $40 million en route to a $73-million domestic gross that precipitated the resignation of Walt Disney Studios Chairman Rich Ross.
But with the $80.3-million domestic opening of Disney’s “Oz: The Great and Powerful,” which unfurled Friday, the studio has a hit that appears to have plenty of life left in it.
“We are happy that the movie seemed to land with audiences -- and a broad spectrum of the audience,” Sean Bailey, head of production at Walt Disney Studios, said in an interview Sunday morning. “We are pleased families seemed to turn out and the general audience seemed to turn out and enjoy the movie.”
-- Daniel Miller, Los Angeles Times