Aladdin

You’ve got to be careful with wishes. The ancient Sibyl confidently chose eternal life, but without a thought for equally eternal youth or health. At least in the chiller The Monkey’s Paw, the protagonist has one wish left at the end to set things right, or at least, less wrong. But things have worked out differently for Disney. In 2014, its executives wished for a successful live adaptation of their blockbuster 1992 animated film. Presto: the Broadway version of Aladdin, a spectacle replete with flying carpets and sword-swallowers—and new characters and songs—is still running five years later, with ticket sales well north of $400 million. But since the live-action film version released in May has done more than double that amount at the box office, it’s a toss-up: Will the kids say the irrepressible Genie doesn’t sound like Robin Williams or that he doesn’t look like Will Smith?