Aladdin has defied many expectations!

Even though the film was suffering from the gripes of people who grew up with the original 1992 animated film, Aladdin, starring Will Smith as the Genie, has passed the $1 billion mark globally as of Friday. It is Disney’s latest $1 billion money-maker, with several Marvel films, such as Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame. Just this week, Spider-Man: Far From Home also made it past $1 billion. It is Will Smith’s first film to make $1 billion globally.

Even though some Disney fans were frustrated with the film not retaining the same charm as the early ’90s original, the film was still immensely popular in North America. According to The Hollywood Reporter, it remained in the top seven films for nine weeks. Elsewhere, the film did just as good if not better. In South Korea, The Hollywood Reporter states, “it is the No. 4 Western title of all time with $81 million.” In Japan, it has earned almost $100 million, and in the Middle East, it is “the highest-grossing movie of all time.”

Turns out people shouldn’t have underestimated the power of Smith, as well as the power of Middle Eastern representation in Hollywood films.

Mena Massoud, who plays the title role, talked about the milestone on Twitter in a video. In his tweet, he also wrote, “We are officially the most ethnically diverse cast to ever lead a film to the billion-dollar club. Pretty. Freakin. Cool.”

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Photo credit: Disney