Disney’s photorealistic retelling of The Lion King is officially their highest-grossing live-action release that is not Marvel or Star Wars related. Despite mixed reviews, Jon Favreau’s remake of The Lion King has dominated the box office week after week since its release. Just recently, the film officially passed the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office, becoming the fifth movie of 2019 to hit that point and the fourth film from Disney alone. It was also the highest-grossing live-action remake from Disney during its opening weekend run, breaking the Mouse House’s very own opening weekend record that was originally held by 2017’s Beauty and the Beast.
It’s no question that, so far, this year has truly been one of the Mouse House’s best. Looking beyond these record-breaking live-action wins from The Lion King, the company also saw monumental success from their Marvel branch. Their climactic finale to the Infinity Saga was a box office wonder to behold. To say Avengers: Endgame dominated the box office is really an understatement. The film proved to be the company’s greatest success, going so far as to dethrone James Cameron’s Avatar to become the highest-grossing movie of all time. But, the King of Pride Rock proved to Disney that he wasn’t finished just yet and that there were even more surprises in store.
According to Variety, The Lion King remained in the top three films at the box office this weekend, trailing behind Hobbs and Shaw and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Jon Favreau’s film added, “$20 million during its fourth outing,” and, “has amassed $1.33 billion globally,” officially surpassing Beauty and the Beast to become, “the studio’s biggest live-action film in history.” Not only that, but The Lion King has become, “the second-highest grossing movie of the year domestically.”
Disney is currently on the road to earning a record $9 billion at the global box office this year alone. The numbers so far have been out-of-this-world, but they don’t even begin to factor in the records that are sure to be broken at the box office by Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in December. Clearly, the Mouse House is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon, especially with their highly-anticipated streaming service still on the horizon as well.
Many people have wondered why exactly these remakes have been making so much money. Well, nostalgia surely plays a hand in it, but also there’s international profit to take into consideration. Many of these films are turning such high profits because there’s more of a focus on the global market then there used to be when their originals were initially released. Not only that, but Disney has continually proven how much they value making high-quality films that fans of the source material can enjoy. Even if The Lion King was just a retelling of the same story, its CGI work was incredible and it was clear a lot of time and effort went into making it as appealing as possible. And more importantly, making it worth the price of a movie ticket.
Next: Why The Lion King Made $1 Billion So Quickly
Source: Variety
