'Aladdin' overtakes 'Independence Day' to become Will Smith's biggest ever movie
After the backlashes and the middling reviews, Aladdin has turned out to be the biggest movie Will Smith has ever been in.
The Disney live-action remake has overtaken Smith's previous box office smash Independence Day, having coined in an impressive $876.8 million (£694 million)
Read more: Aladdin stars say CGI backlash was unfair
Independence Day made $817 million (£647 million) back in 1996, and Smith has thanked fans for making it happen.
Offering up thanks in various languages, he said he was humbled by the news.
“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,” he added.
Though the movie has passed Independence Day's record, he's just shy of its US haul – it made $306.2 million, compared to Aladdin's $305.9 million, though it'll soon pass that.
That said, these are figures unadjusted for inflation.
When that's taken into consideration, Independence Day would have topped $1.3 billion in today's money, so there's a way to go until Aladdin can conjure that from his magic lamp.
Read more: Mixed reviews for Aladdin
Still, it's a solid figure for a movie many believed could have been a flop for Disney.
Early footage was heavily mocked online – notably Smith's blue genie, which was dubbed 'nightmare fuel' by one critic – and question marks over Guy Ritchie's suitability as director hovered over the production throughout.
But it appears the British director has proved critics – who gifted the movie a pretty lowly 56 percent approval via Rotten Tomatoes – wrong.
