Aladdin Flies Past $1 Billion to Become the Biggest Hit of Will Smith's Career
Aladdin has flown past $1 billion at the worldwide box office.
The Disney film, which debuted in theaters in May, finished Thursday with a North American total of $343.1 million and $656.2 million overseas for a global haul of $999.3 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The achievement marks the first time director Guy Ritchie and the film’s star, Will Smith, have been in $1 billion club, despite such hits as Men in Black and Sherlock Holmes. The same goes for newcomers Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott, who played Aladdin and Princess Jasmine, respectively.
Massoud, 27, shared his excitement on Instagram, telling fans that he’d predicted the film would gross $1 billion despite being “dismissed” for believing so.
“Aladdin is officially hitting $1 billion, it’s some pretty exciting stuff,” Massoud said in the video. “I told people six months ago that I thought Aladdin would hit a billion.”
He continued, “I got laughed at quite a bit, I got dismissed but I believed in what we were showing people and the heart and soul that we put into the film and what the film represents. Representation, diversity, identity. I’m really glad to say that we’re officially the most ethnically diverse cast to ever lead a film to the billion-dollar club.”
“I know it’s just numbers but it’s pretty cool. Throughout life, you get overlooked and underestimated a lot but if you just put the work in and put your head down and try to manifest what you want to see out there, good things can happen,” he said. “I want to thank the fans that made it happen. Thank you guys without you it would never have been possible.”
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Earlier this month, Smith, 50, thanked his fans for making Aladdin the biggest movie of his career.
“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,” Smith said in a grateful Instagram post over the weekend.
“Aladdin just became the biggest movie of my career! I’m honored and I’m Speechless. (You see what I did there? Gotta pay attention) The only thing I can say is… Thank You,” Smith captioned the video, referencing the new movie’s soundtrack.
RELATED VIDEO: ‘Aladdin’ Star Will Smith Organized a Mac & Cheese Buffet on Set
Saying that he is “humbled and honored,” the original Men in Black star went on to thank fans in more than a dozen languages, including Korean, French, Russian, Hebrew and Japanese.
“Thank you, everyone around the world. Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Smith ended the video before asking, “Who’d I miss?”
Aladdin has out-earned Smith’s Independence Day, which made $817.4 million in box offices across the globe, according to Deadline. The alien-invasion movie came out in 1996 and starred Smith, Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum as they race to save the earth.
Aladdin is still in theaters.
