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In yet another win for Disney, the movie landed the best
domestic launch for a PG film and set a new record for the month
of July. That figure represents the second-best domestic debut
of the year behind Disney and Marvel's "Avengers: Endgame" ($357
million). The Buena Vista company now holds five of the top six
biggest movies of 2018 so far.
Overseas, "The Lion King" felt the love with $269 million for a
global start of $433 million. The film launched in China last
weekend and has since earned $98 million, boosting the worldwide
haul to $531 million.
"We have a lot to celebrate," Cathleen Taff, Disney's president
of global distribution, said on a Sunday morning call. "'The
Lion King' has such a resonance in pop culture that you see all
different types of people coming out. People wanted to be part
of this."
The state-of-the-art technology used to bring the Pride Lands
and its inhabitants to life drew a polarizing response from
reviewers, but the newest version of Disney's crown jewel proved
to be critic-proof, and the prospect of hearing Donald Glover's
Simba and Beyonce's Nala harmonize to Disney classics was
irresistible. Moviegoers flocked en masse to see Simba's grand
return to the big screen, and to much enthusiasm. "The Lion
King" holds an A CinemaScore.
Audiences also shelled out to see the hyper-realistic movie in
the best quality possible. Imax theaters accounted for $25
million of tickets sold, while 36% of global ticket sales came
from 3D screens.
"The Lion King" provided a much-needed jolt to the domestic box
office. Heading into the weekend, box office receipts were
pacing over 9% behind last year. Now, theatrical earnings are
down just over 7%, according to Comscore.
"The Lion King" is already one of the most recognizable stories
across the world, but the remake benefited from an equally buzzy
voice cast including Glover as Simba, Beyonce as Nala, Chiwetel
Ejiofor as Scar, and Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen as Timon and
Pumbaa. James Earl Jones reprised his role as Mufasa from the
original movie. The updated version also includes a new song
from Beyonce.
Disney has re-imagined five of its classics to mostly consistent
success. Outside of "The Lion King," 2017's "Beauty and the
Beast" had the strongest start with $174 million, followed by
2010's "Alice in Wonderland" launched with $116 million. In
2016, Favreau's "The Jungle Book" earned a strong $103 million
in its inaugural weekend. In May, Guy Richie's "Aladdin" debuted
with $91.5 million and is approaching the $1 billion mark
globally. However, Tim Burton's "Dumbo" stumbled with $45
million earlier this year.
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In a banner weekend for Disney, the studio is now home to the
highest-grossing movie in history. "Avengers: Endgame" crossed
$2.7892 billion at the global box office, officially dethroning
the 10-year record of James Cameron's "Avatar."
Since other Hollywood studios refrained from releasing a movie
against "The Lion King," a number of holdovers filled out
domestic box office charts. In a distant second place, Sony's
"Spider-Man: Far From Home" collected $21 million during its
third weekend in theaters, lifting domestic ticket sales to $319
million. The web-slinging superhero adventure has generated $569
million at the international box office.
Disney and Pixar's "Toy Story 4" landed in third with $14
million. In five weeks, the animated movie has generated $375
million in North America and $859 million globally, making it
the seventh Pixar film to surpass the $800 million mark.
At No. 4, Paramount's alligator thriller "Crawl" generated $6
million for a domestic tally of $23 million. Rounding out the
top five is Universal's musical rom-com "Yesterday," which
pocketed $5.1 million during its fourth weekend of release. The
movie has grossed $57.5 million to date.
Among specialty releases, Sony Pictures Classics opened its
documentary "David Crosby: Remember My Name" in four locations,
where it earned $41,050.
Meanwhile, A24 expanded Lulu Wang's "The Farewell" to 35
locations in its second weekend, generating a promising $1.17
million. The comedic drama starring Awkwafina debuts nationwide
on Aug. 2.
In honor of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, Neon's
documentary "Apollo 11" returned to theaters, making $75,000
from 107 venues. With $9 million in North America, it's now the
highest grossing non-fiction film of 2019. Neon owns the three
biggest docs of the year so far with "Amazing Grace" ($4.5
million) and "The Biggest Little Farm" ($4 million).
"It's remarkable to see 'Apollo 11' cross $9 million to become
the highest grossing doc of 2019 and on the 50th anniversary of
the moon landing," Elissa Federoff, Neon's head of theatrical
distribution said in a statement. "A true testament to an
extraordinary piece of cinema and one of the best reviewed films
of the year."
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