For all those people who are saying that Disney doesn’t know how to churn out a hit at the box office: Please step back!! Over the weekend, the studio has yet again made its dominance felt.
Disney’s The Lion King opened up to be one of the most grossing movies to come from the House of Mouse. The latest live-action addition is still continuing its reign at the box office, and recent reports are revealing that it is surpassing The Avengers to become the seventh highest-grossing movie of all time. Yes! Simba has beaten Earth’s mightiest heroes which is nothing shy of impressive, to say the very least of it.
Directed by Jon Favreau, Disney’s reimaging of its classic animated film features the voices of Donald Glover, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Seth Rogen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Billy Eichner, John Kani, John Oliver, Alfre Woodard, Florence Kasumba, Eric André, Shahadi Wright Joseph, Keegan-Michael Key, JD McCrary, and James Earl Jones.
With the Labor Day weekend behind us, The Lion King has now grossed in a total of more than $1.56 billion globally. The huge returns owe its share to the $523.5 million in domestic ticket sales and a stellar $1.04 billion from international markets. Previously, it was Marvel’s The Avengers who held the record position by nabbing around $1.51 billion when it was released in 2012.
The Lion King also managed to bump down Black Panther ($1.34 billion) from its position in the all-time top ten. If the movie continues to shine well at the box office, then there is a chance that it could overtake Jurassic World ($1.67 billion) from the sixth position. However, going any higher than that would be a tough task, as the fifth spot is safe in the hands of Avengers: Infinity War with a whopping $2.04 billion in the collection box. It is obvious that Simba’s roar wouldn’t have that much strength to reach there.
Apart from the numbers, this accomplishment shows how much the Mouse House defies expectations. Disney knows the winning formula to churn out content that audiences want to see. While every other studio struggled this summer, Disney dominated the box office again, giving hit after hit. This milestone is only one among the long list of achievements for Disney. The studio currently occupies six of the top 10 spots on the highest-grossing movie list and nine of the top 15 spots.
With already five movies released, they are also having a record-breaking year. Avengers: Endgame, The Lion King, Captain Marvel, Toy Story 4 and Aladdin have all grossed at least $1 billion at the box office, making Disney the most money earned studio in a calendar year. But, they are not going to settle down with that. Big releases such as Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Frozen 2 and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker are already lined up and they are sure to have a great shot at taking in $10 billion or more before 2020. Now, it seems like Disney’s only competition at the box office is itself.
