“The Lion King” roared to a huge $191.8 million opening weekend in North American theaters, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Monday, consolidating Disney’s record-breaking reign at the box office.
It was the eighth-biggest domestic opening of all time, surpassing “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” Disney said.
Director Jon Favreau’s update of the classic 1994 animated film employs hyper-realistic computer-generated images and has a voice cast including Donald Glover as Simba and Beyonce as Nala, as well as Seth Rogen, Chiwetel Ejiofor and James Earl Jones.
Worldwide, the movie has already passed the half-billion-dollar mark.
Congratulations, @MarvelStudios! pic.twitter.com/DWZDX0uDVi — Avatar (@officialavatar) July 22, 2019
Congratulations, @MarvelStudios! pic.twitter.com/DWZDX0uDVi
— Avatar (@officialavatar) July 22, 2019
The July record opening comes as director James Cameron congratulated “Avengers: Endgame” — another Disney property — for beating his film “Avatar” to become the highest-grossing movie of all time.
The Disney-owned Marvel superhero blockbuster ended the 10-year reign of “Avatar” Sunday after its global box office haul rose to $2.7902 billion.
“Congratulations to Avengers Endgame on becoming the new box-office king,” Cameron wrote in a tweet showing an image of Marvel’s Iron Man hero surrounded by “woodsprite” plants from the alien moon Pandora of “Avatar.”
Both “Avatar” and “Endgame” are now owned by Disney following its takeover of 21st Century Fox.
To @JimCameron– you're a monumental reason why we fell in love with film in the first place. Thank you for always inspiring us and opening the world’s eyes to what’s possible. We can’t wait to see where you take us next… pic.twitter.com/nrOqKVjGFa — Russo Brothers (@Russo_Brothers) July 22, 2019
To @JimCameron– you're a monumental reason why we fell in love with film in the first place. Thank you for always inspiring us and opening the world’s eyes to what’s possible. We can’t wait to see where you take us next… pic.twitter.com/nrOqKVjGFa
— Russo Brothers (@Russo_Brothers) July 22, 2019
Well back in second place at North American box offices this weekend was “Spider-Man: Far From Home” at $21.2 million.
A collaboration between Sony and Disney’s Marvel Studios, the latest installment in the blockbuster franchise picks up where “Avengers: Endgame” left off, with Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man atop a cast including Samuel L. Jackson, Zendaya, Jake Gyllenhaal — and Favreau.
