US moviegoers voted with their dollars and chose the familiar over the new this past weekend. The Walt Disney Co’s live-action remake of ‘Aladdin’ crushed the competition at the box office, which included two new original R-rated films that opened as counterprogramming to the family pic: The critically acclaimed teen comedy ‘Booksmart’ and the horror movie ‘Brightburn.’
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But the strategy didn’t quite work. ‘Aladdin’ did better than expected, grossing an estimated $86.1 million (Dh316.1 million) to take the top spot at the North American box office, according to studio estimates on Sunday. It’ll likely pass $100 million by Monday. The others didn’t even break $10 million.
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‘Aladdin,’ a musical-adventure directed by Guy Ritchie, stars Will Smith, Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott and draws heavily on the music and story of the 1992 animated film (the top earner of that year) that it’s based on.
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“We’re delighted,” said Cathleen Taff, Disney’s president of theatrical distribution. “Between the fun action-adventure and spectacular music combined with the cast, which is so charming and has such great chemistry together, we’ve hit something that fans are embracing and walking out of wanting to share with others.”
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‘Aladdin’ is currently out in the UAE.