Aladdin conjures $7M in Thursday previews, hoping for $80M-$85M 4-day weekend

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Aladdin delivered a solid $7M last night, which ranks as the (albeit a distant) second among Disney live-action remakes, behind the $16.3M Beauty and the Beast danced up on its way to a $174.5M 3-day opening. Other comparisons include Cinderella (8PM Thursday start/$2.3M previews/$67.3M 3-day), Dumbo (6PM/$2.6M/$46.0M), Pirates of the Caribbean 5 (7PM/$5.5M/$63.0M), and Malificent (9PM/$4.2M/$69.0M). The biggest wrinkle in comparisons is the start time, since Aladdin began at 6PM and had limited fan events—which come with a large surcharge on ticket prices—at 5PM, so some frontloading should be expected. All told, it seems likely that it will hit the high end of tracking and a $70M 3-day in is play, which would translate to a $85M+ Memorial Day weekend haul.

The horror pic Brightburn blasted $950K on Thursday, which is slightly above the $900K Overlord ($10.2M opening) brought in. This is suggestive of a low teens 3-day, but the superhero element along with James Gunn’s involvement may produce a bit more of a rush factor.

No numbers have been provided for Booksmart as of this writing.