Back in 2014,
Maleficent released and proved to be a financial success despite not being a critical one. Overall, at the worldwide box office, the Disney film made $758 million. It's clear then why Disney are to release a sequel within the coming months. However, if recent projections prove to be accurate,
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil won't be near as fruitful as its predecessor.
According to
Box Office Pro, the film will bring in $30 - 50 million during its opening weekend. Specifically, it's believed that the
Maleficent sequel will just slightly make it over the $37 million mark. This is almost half of what the first instalment made during its opening weekend — that amount being $69 million.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is projected to make only $110 million in total domestically. That would be less than half of the $241 million that its predecessor made domestically.
While there are a couple of things which bolster the film's performance — those being Angelina Jolie's star power, the performance of the film's trailers, and the lack of films releasing within the same timeframe that are aiming for the same young, female audience — they're outweighed by the negatives.
Five years have passed since the first
Maleficent film released. The site explains that the amount time between instalments has proven to be significant citing such films as
Alice Through the Looking Glass,
The LEGO Movie 2, and
Secret Life of Pets 2 — all of which were a lot less successful than their predecessors.
They also mention that
Zombieland: Double Tap will be releasing on the same day and that the upcoming
Addams Family animated movie will debut a week beforehand on Columbus Day (on which children will be out of school), potentially garner positive word of mouth and then interfere with the
Maleficent sequel's opening.
It's important to remember that this is an early projection and simply an educated guess moreso than a prophecy.
The years have been kind to Maleficent and Aurora. Their relationship, born of heartbreak, revenge and ultimately love, has flourished. Yet the hatred between man and the fairies still exists. Aurora’s impending marriage to Prince Phillip is cause for celebration in the kingdom of Ulstead and the neighboring Moors, as the wedding serves to unite the two worlds. When an unexpected encounter introduces a powerful new alliance, Maleficent and Aurora are pulled apart to opposing sides in a Great War, testing their loyalties and causing them to question whether they can truly be family.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is set to arrive in theatres on October 18th, 2019.