Disney’s “Aladdin” is acquiring more wealth than Prince Ali, as the remake of the 1991 animated classic is now estimated to earn a $90 million weekend opening and a $105 million 4-day opening for Memorial Day.
That result would rank sixth among the highest openings for a Memorial Day weekend release and would be the highest since the $110 million opening for “X-Men: Days of Future Past” back in 2014.
Critics may have called Guy Ritchie’s film “cinematic karaoke” and given it a tepid 58% score on Rotten Tomatoes, but audiences are having a good time, with an A on CinemaScore and a 4.5 on Postrak. This word of mouth will be helpful next weekend when “Aladdin” competes against the Elton John biopic musical “Rocketman,” which currently has an 88% Rotten Tomatoes score after its Cannes premiere and is projected for an opening in the $20 million range.
Overseas, “Aladdin” earned $121 million, as it opened in all markets except Japan, with China contributing $18.2 million and Mexico contributing $9.2 million. The film has a 3-day global opening of $207 million, with $15 million coming from IMAX screens.
This strong opening for “Aladdin” will also mean that Disney’s domestic gross totals for the year will cross $1.5 billion after just five months. More than half of that total comes from “Avengers: Endgame,” which will pass $800 million domestic after making $22 million in its fifth weekend. With a “Lion King” remake and sequels to “Toy Story,” “Frozen” and “Star Wars” coming later this year, Disney is not only likely to explode past last year’s $3.09 billion domestic total, but possibly become the first studio to hit $4 billion.
Sitting in second between “Aladdin” and “Avengers” this weekend is Lionsgate’s “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum,” which dropped 58% from its $56.8 million opening for a $24.3 million weekend total and a $30 million 4-day total. “Parabellum” has passed both the domestic and global totals for “John Wick: Chapter 2” after just two weekends, with an estimated domestic total of $106 million and a global total of $181 million.
Taking fourth is Warner Bros./Legendary’s “Detective Pikachu” with a $17 million 4-day total, bringing its domestic total to $120 million after three weekends. Rounding out the top five is Sony/Screen Gems’ “Brightburn,” which is falling below expectations with a $9 million 4-day opening but is in no danger of flopping with a $6 million production budget. Reception for the film was tepid with a C+ CinemaScore and a 58% Rotten Tomatoes score.
In sixth is Annapurna/United Artists’ “Booksmart,” which is hitting the lower end of tracker projections with an $8 million 4-day opening. Unlike “Brightburn,” critical reception for the coming-of-age comedy by first time director Olivia Wilde has been excellent with a 99% Rotten Tomatoes score and a B+ on CinemaScore. If word of mouth remains strong, the film could leg out modestly into June, and seems destined to become a future cult classic based on strong social media praise.
9:30 AM: Updated with studio weekend estimates