If you weren’t convinced before, there is no denying it now — The Lion King is a hit!
Despite a mixed critical response (the film holds a 54 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), the box office numbers, in addition to its A-grade Cinema Score, proved that audiences still just can’t wait for Simba to be king.
The film accrued $531 million in its opening weekend, including $185 million in North America. The $531 million total includes China, where it has had a 10-day run. Outside of China, the film ran up some $433 million.
The film’s opening weekend set a number of records: Biggest Domestic Opening of All Time for a Disney Remake, Biggest Disney Opening (non-Marvel and Star Wars), Biggest Domestic Launch Ever for a PG Film, Biggest July Opening of All Time, Ninth-Biggest Domestic Opening of All Time.
By itself, the film has lowered the year-to-year box office deficit from 9 percent to 7 percent.
The Lion King is led by Donald Glover, who voices Simba and Beyoncé (credited as Beyoncé Knowles-Carter) as Nala. Other stars include James Earl Jones as Mufasa (reprising his role), Alfre Woodard as Sarabi, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar, John Kani as Rafiki, Eric Andre as Azizi, Florence Kasumba as Shenzi, JD McCrary as Young Simba, Shahadi Wright Joseph (Us) as Young Nala and Keegan-Michael Key as Kamari.
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Photo: Disney
