Disney clearly knows the formula of making it big as already 3 of 5 releases that they’ve had has gone past $1 Billion. They don’t own Spider-Man but it is Marvel’s branding that allowed Spider-Man: Far From Home to cross $1 Billion as well. Disney owns Marvel so it is technically because of Disney that Spider-Man has been a success. But even if you don’t count that, the Mouse House has still had the biggest year and the greatest part about it is that, it’s not over yet. Disney’s Aladdin is only the third film to achieve this feat, and there are at least 2 more films like this coming.
Captain Marvel began their great year and went on to make $1.128 Billion. It was followed by Dumbo which only made $350 Million but was still quite profitable. But since then Disney has been on the roll! Avengers: Endgame came in and became the highest grossing film of all time. Currently standing at $2.793 Billion, Endgame is a statement of how much people love Marvel and how no other film can ever pull it off. What’s great is that competition form Endgame did not hurt Aladdin at all.
Aladdin went on to become Will Smith’s biggest success as after 2 months of its release, it has finally crossed the $Billion mark. It currently stands at $1.009 Million and will stay in theatres for almost a month. The film stood strong over the weeks and the result is in front of us. People made fun of the CG involving Smith’s Genie but that’s what turned out to be the strongest selling point of the film. Big Blue Willie surely gave us the performance of a lifetime.
But Disney’s success story doesn’t just end with Aladdin. To follow the live-action remake was Toy Story 4 which is playing quite strong as well. It has crossed the $900 Million mark and currently stands at $918 Million. Well, there are at least 2 more big weekends awaiting this Pixar classic, and it will also achieve the same feat as Aladdin did. That will make it the fourth Disney movie to enter the Billion Dollar Club.
But, but, not so soon. Toy Story 4 is gonna be the 5th film and not the 4th because The Lion King has already taken over. It came out exactly a month later and has already taken over the successful Pixar entry of the year. The Lion King opened up with $191 million domestically and $537 Million worldwide. And now after its second weekend, it stands at $962 Million already. So the next Disney film that will cross the Billion Dollar Club is The Lion King! Now that’s 5.
But don’t forget, there are 3 more big blockbuster Disney events that are headed to the theatres. The first one’s gonna be Anjelina Jolie’s Maleficent: Mistress of Evil which recently dropped its first trailer. With a marketing push, we can be sure that the sequel to Maleficent is going to bring in strong returns. The previous movie managed to go past $750 Million, and the second one could end up somewhere around the same number. To be real, there isn’t much hype for this film so it won’t guarantee another $1 Billion.
But the film that will surely guarantee that is none other than Frozen 2. Yes, it will be another $Billion release without a doubt. The first one went on to make $1.276 Billion worldwide, and the sequel would certainly pull through the Billion Dollar Club. It will be the 6th Disney film to do so if Maleficent 2 ends up producing similar returns to its predecessor.
Then comes the big champion that will end Disney’s year on a high. Star War: The Rise of Skywalker is going to be the finale of the trilogy that was set up by JJ Abrams. Now the visionary director wasn’t around for the second one, but he being back for the third certainly ensures a major success. Star Wars 9 will be the 7th Disney film in the $Billion club and that will be a massive record!
Congratulations for Aladdin, Disney.
