Animated films are part of Disney’s signature, and people just love the characters they have been able to create for decades. However, it is a fact that although many of them are classics, they are easily forgotten nowadays.
Why? Because people are starting to watch newer ones instead of going back a few decades ago. But we bet that if you decide to watch one, many will join.
Now, this situation has led Disney to focus on live actions from its old animated films. Aladdin is just one of the results from this, and we can say that it was a good move!
Spoiler! It didn’t beat the original, but it sure earned Disney a large sum of money in the process that left the company wanting to shoot a second part.
How much did Disney earn? And what about the actors/actresses? Let’s find out!
Get to Know It First: Aladdin (1992)
If we want to start with Aladdin (2019), we HAVE to go over the original animated film.
The movie was released on November 25, 1992, and since then, people can’t forget about any of the characters and the magic in the film.
It is entirely a Disney movie considering Walt Disney Feature Animation produced it. Meanwhile, the directors were Ron Clements and John Musker.
The inspiration and concept of the movie came from an Arabic folk tale named One Thousand and One Nights. The film is set in the fictional city of Agrabah, which is often mistaken as being Baghdad.
The story follows a young man named Aladdin who lives on 5th Street in that city. He’s flawed and has to contend with an evil vizier and his guards every day.
On the other side of the city, we have Princess Jasmine, who cannot leave her palace and know what the real world is while being forced to get married to someone she doesn’t love.
On the other hand, Jafar is our antagonist who wants to become a sultan and reign the city. However, his intentions are made clear from the beginning: he will not help “his” people once he becomes the authority.
Aladdin and Jasmine meet each other while she was escaping from the palace due to how angry she was at having to marry a man she doesn’t love.
Aladdin, our male character, spends time with the princess and starts to develop feelings for who she is.
Unfortunately, he is captured by Jafar while the guards were looking for Jasmine and take Aladdin to a cave to find the treasure that will make him sultan: a lamp that holds a genie.
A slip makes Aladdin end up trapped in the cave where he, indeed, found the lamp.
Aladdin meets a Genie from the lamp, who offers him three wishes. Aladdin is reluctant at first but ends up using his wishes, starting with help to earn the princess’ heart.
Jafar recognizes Aladdin after reducing a spell cast by the Genie on him to avoid people from recognizing him.
The bad guy ends up taking the lamp and uses his first wish to become a sultan. But Aladdin gets it back thanks to some magic and a brilliant idea.
Jafar ends up trapped inside the lamp, and Genie is freed from it as he wished during the entire film.
The movie ends in happiness for everyone, and Aladdin and Jasmine getting married.
Aladdin’s Most Recent Version
With this done, there’s only one question lingering: what’s the difference between both versions?
Leaving aside the noticeable difference, the truth is that not many things change or differ from one another.
Aladdin (2019) follows the same premise from the original, and despite a few changes (mainly focused on encouraging women’s independence), it is pretty loyal to the original version.
This is probably why so many people loved it: it was finally aiming for more than the princess marrying a man to be happy and the fact that it was still similar to the original.
Many live-action or movies based on animated films tend to omit over 50% of the originals and end up being a completely different movie from what was expected.
Now, does this mean Aladdin (2019) was better than the original? If you ask us, not at all.
There will always be something missing (in our opinion), but it was a great call by Disney to stick to the essentials and what people already loved.
That being said, who even acts on it? The main cast includes:
- Naomi Scott as Princess Jasmine.
- Mena Massoud as Aladdin.
- Will Smith as the Genie.
- Marwan Kenzari as Jafar.
How Much Money Did Aladdin (2019) Make?
The budget Disney established for the movie was $183 million, and if we focus on it and then move on the earnings, we can say it was profitable.
To begin with, the long-time company expected a profit of $365 million, and they were surprised when they exceeded their expectations.
Five weeks after its premiere, Aladdin (2019) has already earned $317 million at the box office.
It has grossed $356.6 million in the USA and Canada and $695.1 million in other countries: a total of $1.05 billion made worldwide.
This makes the movie very profitable, and the earnings led Disney to go for its second part.
The reception was better than expected (if we are honest), and although the movie isn’t considered to be as good as the original and only entertaining to watch a few times, it sure made people want to go back and see it for the good old time.
Did the Actors Make Millions?
Some did, others no.
Disney isn’t only known for its great movies, films, musicals, and every single content they release. They also know how to pay people.
Will Smith made $12.5 million with the movie while playing “Genie,” and some even believe that his contract included part of the box office money.
Of course, the man has a considerable history of making money, and it is no surprise for him to have this income based on his career more than anything else.
Mena Massoud (Aladdin) made $500.000, while Marwan Kenzari got $2 million to act as the villain in Aladdin (2019).
As for Naomi Scott (Jasmine), there aren’t reports about her salary for the movie. However, considering that her net worth is valued at $3 million, we can guess that her salary was similar to Mena’s.
But why would they get paid so much less? Everything lies on the fame.
Naomi Scott is a singer and actress known for Terra Nova and Power Rangers (2017). But she isn’t a big star beside her most successful role as Jasmine.
We believe this is the main reason for her possible low salary compared to the others, except for Mena and other actors/actresses that haven’t work too long in the industry or are unable to request a better salary.
Fun (And Not So Fun) Facts About Aladdin (2019)
- When Aladdin and Genie are first speaking in the desert, Carpet can be seen in the background making a sandcastle in the form of Disney’s logo castle.
- Jim Carrey was originally going to be the Genie.
- Aladdin’s look was based on Tom Cruise (we can see the resemblance).
- Two thousand people auditioned for the lead roles: Jasmine and Aladdin.
Here’s Our #1 Recommended Online Business Model:
Interested in starting an online business to build passive income? Check out the local lead gen business model. Click here to learn more.
