Lion King Beats Marvel’s The Avengers:
Disney has to give the foremost credit of their Hollywood dominance to Marvel’s The Avengers because that is the film which really announced them as a major player in the industry. Back then, no one had seen something like the Avengers, which was actually handled so very well. Till date, the Avengers is one of the strongest movies of the MCU, but now that Disney & Marvel’s plan has grown so big in name, many Disney movies have gone past the film that set the benchmark in 2012. The latest film to go past that benchmark is none other than The Lion King.
Jon Favreau has become Disney’s go to guy for every one of the major properties that they own. Whether it is a Marvel movie, a Star Wars project or a classic animation that has to be brought to live-action, Favreau has proved his excellence in every one of them. He was the one that started the MCU with Iron Man, then he was given the job to bring The Jungle Book to life. Looking at the Jungle Book success, Favreau got handed the responsibility to create a Star Wars series (The Mandalorian) and remake The Lion King. Every one of these projects have been major successes, but The Lion King surely is Jon Favreau’s greatest creation.
The film opened up with $191 Million at the domestic office. That was the biggest Disney original opening ever. As far as worldwide openings are concerned, The Lion King fell at number 4. Here’s how it stands in the top 10 list:
The first was obviously Avengers: Endgame with $1.222 Billion in 3 days. To follow it we’ve got Avengers: Infinity War ($640 Million), The Fate of the Furious ($541.9 Million), The Lion King ($531 Million), Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($529 Million), Jurassic World ($525.5 Million), and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2 ($483.2 Million), Captain Marvel ($455 Million), Star Wars: The Last Jedi ($450.8 Million) and Batman v. Superman ($422.5 Million).
As of now, the movie stands at $1.564 Billion worldwide. The current domestic numbers are $523 Million. With these numbers, The Lion King has taken down The Avengers ($1.518 Billion) over the last weekend. The Lion King does fall behind on the domestic numbers as The Avengers managed to bring in $623 Million from its home turf. But having been produced on a budget of $260 Million, you’d have to say that the returns that the great Simba has garnered are greater than Disney would have expected. Ultimately, Disney is the winner and they’d surely want more of their upcoming films to go past The Avengers and even The Lion King.
Talking about the top grossers at the worldwide Box Office, The Lion King stands number 7. It falls behind Avengers: Endgame ($2.796b), Avatar, ($2.788b), Titanic ($2.188b), Star Wars: the Force Awakens ($2.068b), Avengers: Infinity War ($2.048b) and Jurassic World ($1.671b). Simba may still have legs to go past Jurassic World, but it would surely no go anywhere near Avengers: Infinity War. So, by the time The Lion King concludes its Box Office run, it will most probably stand as the 6th highest grossing film of all time. Disney would certainly take that.
Disney’s The Lion King stars Donald Glover as Simba, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter as Nala, James Earl Jones as Mufasa, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar, Seth Rogen as Pumbaa and Billy Eichner as Timon. Here’s the official Synopsis:
“Director Jon Favreau’s all-new “The Lion King” journeys to the African savanna where a future king is born. Simba idolizes his father, King Mufasa, and takes to heart his own royal destiny. But not everyone in the kingdom celebrates the new cub’s arrival. Scar, Mufasa’s brother—and former heir to the throne—has plans of his own. The battle for Pride Rock is ravaged with betrayal, tragedy and drama, ultimately resulting in Simba’s exile. With help from a curious pair of newfound friends, Simba will have to figure out how to grow up and take back what is rightfully his.”
