Two months after its release, Disney’s remake of Aladdin”Aladdin” will cross the $1 billion mark at the global box office Friday, taking advantage of a mix of nostalgia and weak competition to dominate the box office in June.
Directed by Guy Ritchie and produced by Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich, “Aladdin” received mixed reviews with a 57% Rotten Tomatoes score, with some reviews echoing the sense of Disney remake fatigue that many critics would show two months later with “The Lion King.” But that didn’t stop Disney fans from showing up on Memorial Day weekend to the tune of a $117 million 4-day opening, the largest Memorial Day opening since “Fast & Furious 6” in 2013.
But it didn’t stop there. In the following weeks, fellow Disney release “Toy Story 4” proved to be the only serious competition for both family and general moviegoers as titles from other studios like “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” and “Men In Black: International” underperformed amid weak word of mouth. This has allowed “Aladdin” to become the longest lasting Memorial Day release at the box office since “Mission: Impossible II” released back in 2000.
That Tom Cruise film opened to a 3-day opening weekend total of $57.8 million and finished with $215 million, for a multiple of 3.72x. By comparison, “Aladdin,” which had a $91.5 million 3-day opening, has grossed $341 million for a multiple of 3.73x, the highest multiple to come out of the Memorial Day box office in the 21st century.
“Aladdin” has also succeeded overseas, particularly in Japan, where its $98.8 million total has exceeded the $54.6 million gross of “Avengers: Endgame.” South Korea has also been a strong market with $81.4 million, while China has added $53.3 million and the U.K. has contributed $45.3 million.
With this milestone, Disney has now released 14 films that have grossed over $1 billion worldwide since 2015, and it will get billion-dollar hit No. 15 very soon with “The Lion King.” Like “Aladdin,” the film has sharply divided critics, but that didn’t stop it from earning a $191.5 million domestic opening — the eighth highest opening ever — and $581 million worldwide. With “Frozen II” and “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” still to come, Disney could have six films gross over $1 billion in 2019 with a combined global gross of over $9 billion.