“Let It Go” may be Walt Disney’s anthem these days, but “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” might be the more accurate theme song for the Disney juggernaut.

Disney’s recent streak continued over the weekend with the $70.1 million North American debut of its traditional, sumptuously costumed fairy tale adaptation “Cinderella,” according to studio estimates Sunday. Interest in the film, directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Lily James of “Downton Abbey,” was boosted by a “Frozen” short, “Frozen Fever,” that played before the feature.

Disney’s box-office surge has been propelled partly by the so-called “halo effect” of “Frozen,” a sequel to which Disney announced last week. But it’s also been driven by the appeal of seeing Disney cartoon classics turned into live-action fantasies. “Cinderella” follows previous live-action hits like “Maleficent” and “Alice in Wonderland.”

The holiday release “Into the Woods,” from the Stephen Sondheim musical, added to the live-action trend, and many more are on the way. “The Jungle Book,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “Dumbo” are all coming in live action, as is a sequel to “Alice in Wonderland.”

Disney has also found big profits in capitalizing on female moviegoers, who made up the largest chunk of “Frozen” and “Maleficent” fans. The audience for “Cinderella” was 66 percent female, Disney said.

“There is seemingly a lot of appetite for these stories to be told, I think, in part because many of them have a female protagonist and we’ve seen there’s significant box-office success that can come by featuring female-driven stories,” said Dave Hollis, head of distribution at Disney.


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