"The Lion King" Rules With $185 Million Debut
Simba and Mufasa reigned supreme this weekend as Disney’s “The Lion King” dominated box office charts. Director Jon Favreau’s remake of the animated classic collected a massive $185 million from 4,756 North American theaters during its first three days of release.
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 also represents the second-best domestic debut of the year behind Disney and Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame” ($357 million). After this weekend, 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.
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.
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 also represents the second-best domestic debut of the year behind Disney and Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame” ($357 million). After this weekend, 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.
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.
