Aladdin becomes the 3rd Disney movie of 2019 to break $1 billion


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Disney's 2019 box office run sure has been an unbelievable sight.
The studio's live-action remake of Aladdin has now officially grossed $1 billion at the worldwide box office, becoming the third Disney release of 2019 to do so after Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame, Deadline reports. Three out of the four films that have made more than $1 billion this year were released by Disney, with the fourth, Spider-Man: Far From Home, being distributed by Sony but taking place in the Disney-owned Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Disney is now on pace to potentially end the year with as many as seven movies joining the billion-dollar club. Based on their performances thus far, Toy Story 4 and The Lion King should cross that threshold in the coming weeks. Then, Frozen II in November will likely have no problem crossing $1 billion after the original film grossed $1.2 billion in 2013, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker falling short of $1 billion would be downright stunning; its predecessor, The Last Jedi, grossed $1.3 billion worldwide in 2017.
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This would be a remarkable feat even for Disney, which only released three billion-dollar films in 2018: Avengers: Infinity War, Black Panther, and Incredibles 2. In 2017, they only had two: Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Beauty and the Beast. In 2016, they had four: Captain America: Civil War, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Finding Dory, and Zootopia.
Disney, though, seems to have always planned for its 2019 to be particularly massive specifically in preparation of its upcoming streaming service, Disney+, which launches this fall and which these billion-dollar hits will able to stream exclusively on. The studio's 2020 is unlikely to be quite as big, especially with Star Wars taking the year off and the Marvel Cinematic Universe only releasing two films. But with Star Wars returning in 2022, and not one but four Avatar sequels on the way, the power may remain in the studio's corner for years to come.
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Brendan is a staff writer at The Week. A graduate of Hofstra University with a degree in journalism, he also writes about horror films for Bloody Disgusting and has previously contributed to The Cheat Sheet, Heavy, WhatCulture, and more. He lives in New York City surrounded by Star Wars posters.
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