Oz the Great and Powerful

Action sequel G.I. Joe: Retaliation took over the box office in its opening weekend, raking in $41.2 million. Last week's no. 1, The Croods, came in second with $26.5 million, followed by new release Tyler Perry's Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor with $22.3 million. Olympus Has Fallen fell to fourth with $14 million, and Oz the Great and Powerful added $11.6 million to its grand total. Another new release The Host failed to crack the top five and took in a disappointing $11 million.

Animated family film The Croods won the box office this weekend, pulling in $44.7 million in its debut. Another of the week's new releases, Olympus Has Fallen, took second place with $30.5 million, followed by last week's winner, Oz the Great and Powerful, with $22 million. Halle Berry's thriller The Call took fourth with $8.7 million, while Tina Fey and Paul Rudd's romantic comedy Admission only earned $6.4 million and fifth place for its first weekend of release. Spring Breakers followed with $5 million in its nationwide opening.

Oz the Great and Powerful kept up its reign, topping the box office for a second week in a row with $42.2 million. Newcomer The Call came in second with an impressive $17.1 million, but fellow new release The Incredible Burt Wonderstone earned a disappointing $10.3 million. Jack the Giant Slayer followed in fourth place with $6.2 million, and Identity Thief rounded out the top five with $4.5 million. Meanwhile, Spring Breakers made its very limited debut in just three theaters, with $270,000.

Not even a wicked witch could stop Oz the Great and Powerful from winning the box office in its first week of release. Sam Raimi's hyped fantasy film took in $80.3 million, making it the year's biggest opener so far. Last week's No. 1, Jack the Giant Slayer, slipped to No. 2 with $10 million. Identity Thief came in third with $6.3 million, and the week's other new release, Dead Man Down, followed with $5.4 million. Snitch rounded out the top five with $5.1 million.

As a prequel to the beloved 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, Oz the Great and Powerful has a rich well of nostalgia at its disposal, and director Sam Raimi harnesses it to provide a foundation for a fresh new angle. Unfortunately, the new movie set in the land of Oz is all flash and no substance. James Franco plays small-time magician Oscar Diggs, who goes by "Oz" and is more concerned with fame and money than with other people. When the Kansas resident gets swept into a tornado (sound familiar?), he finds a strange new world that desperately needs to be saved from a mysterious wicked witch. Though Oz feels like an impostor, he finds a new side of himself that wants to help, thanks to some new friends and a beautiful witch, Glinda (Michelle Williams).

The good witch is contrasted by two other witches, Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Theodora (Mila Kunis), who both have streaks of wickedness, but we don't know who the bad witch is until an early twist reveals her. The witches, with their magic and unparalleled beauty, are the most fun characters to watch, but this is supposed to be about Oz — and his story is not compelling in the least. Find out what else I thought of Oz the Great and Powerful after the jump.

• See what Disney is cooking up for the next Oz movie — Vulture
• 15 actors who can't escape their breakout roles — HuffPost Entertainment
• Watch the trailer for Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing — Moviefone
• The 5 most embarrassing past lives of famous musicians — Cracked
• Justin Bieber is having one heck of a week — The Daily Beast
• The funniest people who have never hosted SNL — Splitsider
• Is Glee going in too many directions? — BuddyTV
• Is Oz the Great and Powerful child-friendly? — Rotten Tomatoes
• The worst karate sequences in film — NextMovie
• Get the news on Christopher Nolan's next project — The Hollywood Reporter
• Who will Bachelor Sean Lowe choose? — POPSUGAR Sex & Culture