The live-action “Aladdin” film starring Will Smith is expected to lead the box office over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, but estimates for receipts have been scaled back following some bruising reviews.
The Disney DIS, -0.08%[1] film, which is directed by Guy Ritchie, has a 60% rating on Rotten Tomatoes,[2] with viewers griping that it never approaches the “dazzling splendor” of the animated original. New York Times critic A.O. Scott agreed with that assessment and said the film invites a simple question: “Why?”
“The movie itself, while not entirely terrible — a lot of craft has been purchased, and even a little art — is pointless in a particularly aggressive way,” Scott wrote in his review.[3]
MKM analyst Eric Handler said the film is tracking toward a four-day gross that is closer to the low end of its $80 million to $100 million projected opening range. Earlier this year, there were hopes for an opening closer to $150 million, “but now with complaints about a CG genie and Will Smith looking a bit scary combined with sub-par critic reviews, expectations have been ratcheted down in recent months,” Handler wrote in a note to clients.
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The overall box office is now facing a difficult comparison with last year’s “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” which opened to receipts of $130 million.
“From a big picture standpoint, we remain comfortable with our +3% box office estimate for 2Q but acknowledge there is now more pressure being placed on June’s slate of films,” the analyst wrote.
At Box Office Mojo, the forecast for Aladdin is for a four-day gross of about $75.3 million with the film expected to benefit from screenings at more than 2,700 3-D locations, on 400 Imax screens, 700 premium large format screens and at 200 D-Box/4-D locations.
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“The big question will be just how well will audiences respond to the film and will that response bolster its performance through the weekend or will it dampen day-to-day performance?” said the website, which is operated by film database IMDb.
The Keanu Reeves-helmed “John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum”[6] is expected to take second place the box office with about a $30 million take. “Avengers: Endgame”[7] is expected to have a four-day box office of about $22 million.
Other new releases including “Booksmart,” the Olivia Wilde-directed teen comedy that has garnered a 98% review on Rotten Tomatoes, and “Brightburn,” a...