erik lundegaard

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Sunday May 26, 2019

Box Office: ‘Aladdin’ Solid But No ‘Beauty’

Disney's live-action “Aladdin,” with a couple of good-looking unknowns in the leads, and the hugely known Will Smith as the hugely mocked genie, opened OK over Memorial Day weekend, grossing $86.1 mil. Among Disney's live-action remakes, that ranks upper tier but not top tier. It's the highest-ranking live action Disney remake to not gross $100 million opening weekend:

  Movie Gross Thtrs Open Wknd Open %
1 Beauty and the Beast (2017) $504,014,165 4,210 $174,750,616 34.67%
2 Alice in Wonderland (2010) $334,191,110 3,739 $116,101,023 34.74%
3 The Jungle Book (2016) $364,001,123 4,144 $103,261,464 28.37%
4 Aladdin (2019) $86,100,000 4,476 $86,100,000 n/a
5 Oz The Great and Powerful $234,911,825 3,912 $79,110,453 33.68%
6 Maleficent $241,410,378 3,948 $69,431,298 28.76%
7 Cinderella (2015) $201,151,353 3,848 $67,877,361 33.74%
8 Dumbo (2019) $112,701,413 4,259 $45,990,748 40.81%
9 101 Dalmatians (1996) $136,189,294 2,901 $33,504,025 24.60%
10 Alice Through the Looking Glass $77,041,381 3,763 $26,858,726 34.86%
11 Pete's Dragon (2016) $76,233,151 3,702 $21,514,095 28.22%

Reviews were mixed (57% on RT) but let's assume it does what most of these have done and gross 28-34% of its total on opening weekend. That means total domestic will be between $260 and $300. One assumes it‘ll do better abroad, where it’s already grossed $121, since all Disney live-actions general earn 60-70% of their worldwide total in other countries. If these percentages hold (28-34/60-70), “Aladdin” could gross anywhere from $650 million to $1 billion abroad. 

Of the two other openers, “Brightburn” (scary Superboy) and “Booksmart” (“Superbad” w/girls), the latter received great reviews (98%), the former meh reviews (59%), and neither blew the lid off the box office. “Brightburn” finished in fifth place with $7.5 while the critics darling finished in sixth with $6.5. Way of the world. Doesn't pay to be booksmart. I could‘ve told you that. 

Meanwhile, “John Wick 3” added another $24 for second place but first place among “Wick” movies; it squeaked over the $100 million domestic mark, which no “Wick” movie has ever done. In third place, “Avengers: Endgame” added another $16.8 for a $798 domestic total. Tomorrow, it will become just the second movie (after “The Force Awakens”) to pass $800 mil domestic, but it’ll have to settle for second place. It won't catch “Force” at $936. On the adjusted chart, it's in 21st place. On the worldwide chart, it's still more than $100 million away from No. 1 “Avatar”: $2.78 billion vs. 2.67 billion.

Posted at 12:15 PM on Sunday May 26, 2019 in category Movies - Box Office