Aladdin becomes the latest movie to gross $1 billion at the worldwide box office. A remake of the beloved 1992 animated classic, there was a point in time when many felt Aladdin was destined to be a rare misstep for the Mouse House, commercially speaking. Early marketing materials did little to inspire confidence, drawing ridicule for Will Smith’s Genie look and painting the film as a stale rehash of its iconic predecessor. But Aladdin was able to overcome all of that negative buzz and went on one of the strongest runs of the year.
After (surprisingly) receiving positive reviews from critics, Aladdin scored a top-five Memorial Day opening, earning $116.8 million domestically over the extended holiday frame. And thanks to a handful of June tentpoles faltering, Aladdin maintained strong legs and is still in the top 10 on the weekend charts, two months after it originally came out. The film had so much staying power, it began racking up the milestones, surpassing $900 million worldwide and becoming Smith’s top performer in his career. Now, the team behind Aladdin has another reason to celebrate.
According to THR, Aladdin is now at $1 billion globally. It becomes the third Disney remake to make that much at the box office, joining Beauty and the Beast and Alice in Wonderland. Aladdin is also the fourth 2019 release to reach that mark. Two of the others, Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame, are from Disney and the third – Spider-Man: Far From Home – is a result of Sony’s partnership with Marvel Studios. So, as usual, Disney is having a remarkable year.
When Dumbo underperformed back in March, some saw it as an indication that audiences were beginning to tire of Disney’s parade of remakes. However, Tim Burton’s film turned out to be a fluke, and viewers apparently are still interested in this initiative. Aladdin became a monster hit, tapping into nostalgia ’90s kids have for the animated film (it’s part of Disney’s 1990s renaissance) and emerging as solid family adventure film for over the summer. By the time Aladdin entered theaters, there wasn’t much in the way of direct competition, and Endgame had already done much of its damage. There wasn’t exactly a void in the marketplace, but moviegoers were keen on something fresh a month after Avengers. Aladdin fit that bill and continued to be a draw for weeks.
With this, and The Lion King breaking records during its opening weekend, Disney has no reason to stop the remake trend now. They have plenty more in development, with Mulan coming out next year and The Little Mermaid currently rounding out its cast before production. It’ll be interesting to see how those fare at the box office, but the smart money would be on Disney continuing to add to their ever-growing list of smash hits. One day, they’ll run out of animated classics to remake, but until that happens, Aladdin and others will be providing a steady revenue stream.
