‘Aladdin’ Broke The Box Office This Weekend And Proves Will Smith Is Back On Top
According to Variety, Aladdin’s impressive performance marks the fifth-highest Memorial Day weekend total ever, topping 2014's X-Men: Days of Future Past, which raked in $110.4 million. Aladdin even exceeded Disney's pre-opening domestic projections, which shot for a $75 million to $85 million range for the four-day weekend.
Over the past few years, Disney’s 2019's Dumbo and 2016's The Jungle Book debuted at $45.9 million and $103.2 million, respectively. However, despite its incredible success, Aladdin still failed to surpass Beauty and the Beast, which pulled in a whopping $174.7 million, in 2017.
Will Smith's electrifying performance as the Genie, stole the show, making him the true box office MVP. After a few tough years with films like After Earth and Suicide Squad, Aladdin marks Smith’s triumphant return to the top of Hollywood rankings. With a new string of successes including his 2017 Netflix film, Bright; a record-setting Instagram feed and now Aladdin’s earth-shattering opening, Big Will is touching the sky, once again.