Disney's record-breaking 2019 will get even bigger when Jon Favreau's The Lion King opens in theaters next month. The question is just how much should the House of Mouse expect? According to industry analysts,
The Lion King is tracking towards a $150 million-plus opening weekend domestically.
Such an opening would put
The Lion King behind
Avengers: Endgame ($357M), but on par with
Captain Marvel ($153.4M) and ahead of
Toy Story 4 ($120.9M). Both
Avengers: Endgame ($835.4M domestic total) and
Captain Marvel ($426.7M domestic total) went on to gross over $1 billion at the worldwide box office
Now it's worth mentioning that these early estimates are not always 100 percent accurate.
Toy Story 4, for instance, was projected to open in the range of $140 to $165 million, but opened to only $118 million domestically. However, Disney has found particular success with its movies overseas and while
Toy Story 4 didn't live up to expectations stateside,
it did haul in $238 mlilion worldwide — the largest global opening for an animated film.
The Lion King is the third of Disney's three live-action remakes to hit the big screen this year. Tim Burton's
Dumbo ended its disappointing box office run with $351 million globally, while Guy Ritchie's
Aladdin has topped $800 million worldwide. Favreau's previously directed re-imagining of
The Jungle Book opened to $103 million and went on to gross $966 worldwide.
It can be argued that
The Lion King is far more poular than any of those films. A solid opening weekend could put it in line to become Disney's third billion dollar film this year (depending on how
Toy Story 4 continues to perform).
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. The all-star cast includes 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.
The Lion King opens in theaters July 19, 2019.