NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

‘Maleficent’ spooks box office with a $70M debut

NEW YORK

The biggest box-office debut of Angelina Jolie’s career propelled Disney’s twisted fairy tale “Maleficent” to a $70 million opening.

The PG-rated fantasy beat forecasts to easily top all films over the weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Last weekend’s top film, “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” dropped to second with $32.6 million. Seth MacFarlane’s Western comedy “A Million Ways to Die in the West” opened in third place with $17.1 million.

In fourth place was “Godzilla” with $12.2 million; and in fifth place was “Blended,” with $8.4 million.

‘Brady Bunch’ actress Ann B. Davis dies at 88

SAN ANTONIO

Emmy-winning actress Ann B. Davis, who played the housekeeper on “The Brady Bunch,” has died at a San Antonio hospital. She was 88.

Bexar County, Texas, medical examiner’s investigator Sara Horne says Davis died Sunday morning. Horne says no cause of death is available and that an autopsy is planned today. Bishop Bill Frey, a longtime friend of Davis’, says she suffered a fall Saturday at her San Antonio home and never recovered.

“The Brady Bunch” debuted in 1969 and aired for five years, with Davis as Alice, the mainstay for the blended sitcom family. Davis appeared in various Brady spinoffs and sequels over the years.

Associated Press