( CNN ) '' Cinderella , '' the latest live-action retelling of a classic , sparkled like a glass slipper in its opening weekend , with an estimated debut of $ 70.1 million . That 's well above expectations of $ 50 to 60 million , and it tops last year 's $ 69.4 million opening for `` Maleficent , '' another take on the classic fairy tale , which featured Angelina Jolie and a darker tone . This version , however is sweetness and light , thanks to veteran director Kenneth Branagh . Small-screen stars Lily James ( `` Downton Abbey '' ) and Richard Madden ( `` Game of Thrones '' ) play Ella and her Prince , who overcome personal grief and uncertainty with courage and goodness . Oscar winner Cate Blanchett provides venom as the wicked stepmother . Reviews for `` Cinderella '' have been strong , with a current Rotten Tomatoes rating of 83 % . Disney timed the release well : It 's been more than a month since a family film hit theaters ( if you can call the `` SpongeBob '' sequel a `` family '' film ) , and some American school districts just began spring break . Liam Neeson 's latest thriller , `` Run All Night , '' opened in a very soft second place . Neeson has been a solid draw since he reinvented himself as an action star six years ago with `` Taken , '' but `` Run All Night '' debuted even more weakly than last year 's dismal `` A Walk Among the Tombstones . '' This time out , he plays a former hit man whose family is targeted by his old boss , played by Ed Harris -- but it seems people would rather see Neeson attack and fight than run . In limited release , the critically acclaimed horror thriller `` It Follows '' made $ 163,000 in just four theaters , far and away the weekend 's best per-theater average . Among returning films , Colin Firth and `` Kingsman : The Secret Service '' shone the brightest , topping the $ 100 million mark in total domestic grosses and actually rising a spot on the chart , while last weekend 's winner , `` Chappie , '' and runner-up , `` Focus , '' duked it out for fourth place . Next weekend , Shailene Woodley returns in the young adult action sequel `` The Divergent Series : Insurgent , '' while Sean Penn tries the action genre with Idris Elba and Javier Bardem in `` The Gunman . ''
Live - action retelling of ` ` Cinderella '' has an estimated box office debut of $ 70.1 million . ` ##wood 's latest sequel , ` ` ` All Night , '' opens in soft second place .