Box Office: 'Aladdin' Soars to $105 Million Memorial Day Debut
Disney's live-action "Aladdin" remake opened above expectations with an estimated $105 million in North America during the four-day Memorial Day holiday weekend.
That's almost as much as the $112 million Disney's most recent live-action remake, "Dumbo," has earned in 9 weeks. It's the third-biggest launch of 2019, after the record-setting $357 million for "Avengers: Endgame" and $153 million for "Captain Marvel."
Projections for the three-day weekend (not including Memorial Day) were in the $75 million to $85 million range for "Aladdin": It's estimated to have easily exceeded that with $86.1 million in its first three days at the domestic box office.
Audiences gave it an "A" CinemaScore. And in Comscore’s PostTrak general audience survey, 67% said they would "definitely recommend" the film.
Last week's champ, "John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum," racked up $30.5 million following its franchise-best opening of $56.8 million. The Keanu Reeves action film will end the holiday weekend with $107 million domestically.
In its fifth week, "Avengers: Endgame" finished third with $22 million. It's projected to hit $803 million domestically by the end of Memorial Day, just behind "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"'s record-holding domestic gross of $937 million.
Sci-fi horror film "Brightburn," a dark take on superheroes, debuted with an estimated $9 million for the holiday weekend to finish fifth.
And in sixth place, with around $8 million for the four-day weekend, is the teen-comedy "Booksmart." The directorial debut of Olivia Wilde stars Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein as two high school over-achievers who cut loose on graduation night. Audiences gave it a "B+" CinemaScore and it currently holds an impressive 98% Rotten Tomatoes critics' score.
Here are the top 10 estimates for May 24-26, 2019 (Not including Memorial Day)
1. "Aladdin" (2019), $86,100,000
2." John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum," $24,350,000
3. "Avengers: Endgame," $16,841,000
4. "Pokemon Detective Pikachu," $13,300,000
5. "Brightburn," $7,535,000
6. "Booksmart," $6,512,154
7. "A Dog's Journey," $4,090,000
8. "The Hustle," $3,812,554
9. "The Intruder" (2019), $2,265,000
10. "Long Shot," $1,565,000
[Via Variety]