Disney's executive vice president for motion picture distribution Dave Hollis said the film hit a "sweet spot" in terms of timing; over the next few weeks, there will be little competition in the family film market, and many kids in the United States will be on school breaks and thus more likely to head to theaters.

He was mum on reports of a sequel. "It's too early to say too much," Hollis said. "I'm not really a part of that conversation at this time."

Before the weekend, Disney had projected domestic sales of around $70 million, while some box-office analysts saw receipts hitting as much as $85 million.

The big debut for "Oz" outshined the sluggish opening a week earlier for "Jack the Giant Slayer," another family-oriented film that puts a modern spin on a classic children's tale. The new take on "Jack and the Beanstalk," which cost $189 million to produce, pulled in $27.2 million at North American (US and Canadian) theaters during its first three days.

Through Sunday, "Jack" had earned a total of $43.8 million domestically, plus $22.6 million from international markets.

The weekend's other new release, thriller "Dead Man Down," landed in fourth place on North American charts with $5.4 million. The movie stars Colin Farrell and Noomi Rapace as two strangers who join together to seek revenge against a New York crime lord.

Drug drama "Snitch" took fifth place with $5.1 million in domestic sales.

Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc, released "Jack the Giant Slayer". "Identity Thief" was distributed by Universal Pictures, a unit of Comcast Corp. Privately held FilmDistrict released "Dead Man Down". "21 and Over" was released by privately held Relativity Media.