Cinderella, Disney’s live-action remake, has cast a spell over the UK box office as it opened in the number one spot.

Kenneth Branagh’s version, starring Lily James as the princess and Richard Madden as Prince Charming, has taken a projected £3.8 million in box office earnings.

Lily James and Richard Madden
Lily James and Richard Madden (Richard Shotwell/Invision)

This would exceed the opening three-day weekends of previous films Oz: The Great And Wonderful, and Snow White And The Huntsman, and put it on a par with Maleficent.

Cinderella, which also stars Cate Blanchett, Sophie McShera and Helena Bonham Carter and featured the screening of animated short Frozen Fever before the main attraction, also opened in the top spot in Spain with an estimated 2.8 million US dollars (£1.88 million).

It has already taken 150 million dollars (£101 million) in the US, with approximate global takings of 336 million US dollars (£226 million).

Cinderella faces box office competition from Home, the DreamWorks animation featuring the voices of Rihanna and Jim Parsons and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water, starring Antonio Banderas.

Michael Winterbottom’s crime drama The Face Of An Angel starring Cara Delevingne and Daniel Bruhl, and Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart’s new comedy, Get Hard also opened on March 27.

Home took the top spot last week, followed by the Divergent sequel Insurgent in second place.

Rounding out the top five were previews of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Will Smith and Margot Robbie’s crime caper, Focus.

The top 10 films in the UK box office will be confirmed tomorrow (March 31).