It’s Not Avengers But Aladdin Is A Marvel
Box office numbers bore some fans. However, there is worth in remembering that the relative success or underperformance of a particular movie carries significant implications for future films. Case in point, Aladdin.
The reboot was never intended to make the $2.733 billion that Avengers brought in.
But Aladdin certainly did its part to stem the tide for The Walt Disney Company.
Aladdin Had A Great Opening
The Motley Fool investment and financial news site reported:
Aladdin scored a dominant $116.8 million in gross ticket sales over the course of its first four days, making it the fifth largest Memorial Day weekend debut of all time. As of today [June 12], just 19 days in, the film has amassed a whopping $615.5 million in gross box office sales, including roughly $240.5 million here in the U.S. and $375 million overseas.
For perspective, Aladdin’s haul already easily eclipses the $504 million globally that the original animated classic brought in — that is, without adjusting for inflation — over the course of its entire theatrical run from late 1992 to early 1993. And even stopping now could make a satisfactory total, given its lofty production budget of $183 million.
Of course, this might seem underwhelming after watching Avengers: Endgame gather an insane $2.733 billion worldwide over the past seven weeks, including a jaw-dropping $1.224 billion during its opening weekend alone. That makes Endgame the second biggest film of all time, trailing just about $50 million behind 2009’s Avatar — another cinematic franchise Disney now owns, by the way, after closing on its blockbuster acquisition of most the assets of Fox in March.
$615.5M (thus far) for Aladdin isn’t so bad. Especially if you take Dumbo’s $350.7M into consideration.
Aladdin Wasn’t Supposed To Be A Blockbuster
Motley Fool’s Steve Symington also emphasized that Aladdin was NOT supposed to be Avengers.
“Aladdin was never meant to be a tent pole property,” he wrote. “Rather, these in-between films are generally expected to serve as complementary endeavors to Disney’s grander cinematic ambitions, keeping movie-goers primed for the next installments of blockbuster shoo-ins — the Avengers, Avatar, Star Wars, Toy Story, and Frozen types of films within its repertoire.”
Look out for the Lion King
In this case, and in terms of its output, Aladdin did its job – and was a pretty good movie!
Symington agreed, writing:
If anything, perhaps Aladdin will serve to whet viewers’ appetites for future live-action renderings, including next month’s high-potential debut of The Lion King. But even if The Lion King doesn’t live up to the comparative hype its own exciting trailers have garnered, I think Aladdin’s relative outperformance has provided Disney with everything it could have wished for in the meantime.
Hear, hear!
Which summer movie are you most looking forward to? Let us know in the comments.