Will Smith took to Instagram this weekend as Aladdin, the Disney live-action remake of the 1992 animated classic, overtook Independence Day to become the star’s biggest film ever at the global box office (unadjusted). In a video post, a “humbled” Smith said, “To be in this game as long as I’ve been in this game and to have my biggest movie at this point in my career, I just want to say thank you.” Check out the video below in which Smith offers those thanks in myriad languages.
Through Sunday, Aladdin, which is also director Guy Ritchie’s biggest global hit, has cumed $568.3M at the international box office and $874.2M worldwide. Independence Day‘s unadjusted lifetimes were $511.2M overseas and $817.4M global. Domestically, Aladdin is just shy of Independence Day at $305.9M versus the 1996 film’s unadjusted $306.2M. For the moment, Suicide Squad remains Smith’s top-grossing movie in North America with $325.1M (also unadjusted).
Aladdin has been the surprise hit of the summer, riding its magic carpet past major milestones from early June. Strong word of mouth continues to bring a shine to the lamp and the pic has soared with audiences around the world (defying any early industry sniping which simply did not translate to moviegoers). Notably, Aladdin has made over $60M in Korea while it’s nearing $67M in Japan. Drops have been slight throughout the six weekends — this past frame was off by just 30% versus last — and there have been increases in some markets as the movie reaps holiday business. It should cross $900M global by the end of the run.
The Top 5 offshore hubs through Sunday are Japan ($66.6M), Korea ($60.2M), China ($53.3M), UK ($42.8M) and Mexico ($32.1M).
Domestically, Aladdin remained in the Top 4 in its 6th weekend, and this frame became Disney’s third release of 2019 to pass the $300M threshold. It’s the fourth of Disney’s live-action reimaginings to get to $300M domestically alongside Beauty And The Beast, The Jungle Book and Alice In Wonderland.
Here’s Smith offering up his domo arigato and more (also “pay attention” to the Aladdin musical number reference in the text):
Source: Deadline
