Aladdin tracking for magical $80 million opening weekend

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Disney has been doing very well with their series of live-action remakes of their animated classics, with movies like THE JUNGLE BOOK and BEAUTY AND THE BEAST either nearing or crossing $1 billion worldwide. Based on one of their most cherished titles, the upcoming May release of ALADDIN is looking to keep the good times soaring, and right now the pre-release predictions are placing it on track for a rather magical $80 million opening weekend.

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With three weeks left to go until release, estimates from Variety and Box Office Pro have the movie pegged at the total, which would bring it close to the $103 million opening of JUNGLE BOOK in 2016, which went on to make over $350 million domestic and $966 million globally. However, that opening would be less than half of the $174 million BEAUTY AND THE BEAST opened to in 2017, which went on to make over $500 million domestic and $1.2 billion globally. The total for ALADDIN would, however, be an improvement over March’s DUMBO, which opened to $45 million and has made about $108 million and $330 million globally (off a $170 million budget).

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While not as big an opening as some of the other Disney remakes, $80 million is nothing to balk at, especially for a movie starring a nigh-terrifying blue genie played by Will Smith. Helping the movie is a mostly quiet batch of new releases. The only direct competition for the weekend is the horror flick BRIGHTBURN from producer James Gunn and the indie comedy BOOKSMART from director Olivia Wilde, both of which are expected to open in the $10-13 million range. These movies are also expected to get a bump thanks to Memorial Day weekend, with ALADDIN especially set to benefit with kids being out of school, perhaps kicking the movie up to the $100 million territory for the 4-day weekend.

As I said, $80 million is nothing to scoff at, and the movie should be able to glide on past $200 million total thanks to fans of the original alone. When it comes to the late 80s-90s rejuvenation of Disney animated movies, ALADDIN if considered by many to be the best of the bunch, and it was the highest-grossing movie of 1992. That said, the excitement hasn't quite been as high as for other Disney remakes, with the internet sent into a fit after seeing blue Will Smith. The movie from Guy Ritchie seems to have a lot of people on the fence, but the title alone should be enough to get people in the seats. 

ALADDIN is in theaters May 24.