Disney’s ‘The Lion King’ surpassed another box office milestone as it hit the billion-dollar benchmark, becoming the 4th Disney movie to do so this year. The remake of the classic 1994 animated feature now joins “Avengers: Endgame,” “Captain Marvel” and “Aladdin” to the list of movies surpassing $1 billion in global ticket sales this year. ‘The Lion King’ earned $360.9 million at the domestic box office and $638.5 million internationally. The estimated total on Monday was $999.4 million.
Prior to the movies release, critics had mixed feelings regarding Disney’s reimagining of the beloved animated classic as the consensus felt the animation itself was breathtaking, though it made the musical numbers “boring.” On its opening weekend, things were looking rough as it only had a 55% rating from 260 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
Despite the movies rocky opening stats, its box-office performance has been stellar. Analysts foresee a long run for “The Lion King,” in which they expect the remake to continue to sell tickets well into the end of the summer.
The movie’s voice cast included Donald Glover with the role of Simba, Beyonce as Nala, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar, and Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen as Timon and Pumbaa. The original voice of Mufasa can be heard in the remake as well, as Mr. James Earl Jones reprised his role from the original animated film.
In total, Disney has generated more than $7.67 billion at the global box office this year, setting a record for the highest-grossing year for a studio ever, and it doesn’t stop there. “Toy Story 4” will soon become the fifth movie to exceed the billion-dollar benchmark, already gaining $919.1 millionduring its first five weeks in theaters. Meanwhile, Disney is still awaiting its release of “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil,” “Frozen 2″ and “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.”