LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — “The Lion King” maintained its reign over North American theaters, taking in $76.6 million over the three-day weekend, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations said Monday.
The massive haul brings its domestic total to $351.9 million and extends a streak of successes for Disney after its “Avengers: Endgame” was last week named the highest-grossing movie of all time.
Directed by Jon Favreau, “The Lion King” is a remake of the 1994 animated film, employing hyper-realistic computer-generated images with a voice cast including Donald Glover as Simba and Beyonce as Nala, together with Seth Rogen, Chiwetel Ejiofor and James Earl Jones.
Director Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood,” which has earned rave reviews, opened in second place with $41.1 million.
“Once Upon a Time” — the ninth of the 10 movies Tarantino has said he will make before retiring — is set in Tinseltown in 1969 and features Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and Al Pacino.
“Spider-Man: Far from Home” — which continues where “Endgame” left off and stars Tom Holland as the Marvel superhero — came in third in its fourth week with $12.5 million.
In fourth place was “Toy Story 4,” which managed $10.5 million in its sixth week in cinemas.
The latest installment in the family-friendly Disney/Pixar animation franchise that began in 1995, the movie features the voices of Tom Hanks (Woody) and Tim Allen (Buzz Lightyear).
Fifth spot went to Paramount’s “Crawl,” with $4.1 million in its third week. Barry Pepper and Kaya Scodelario play a father and daughter battling hungry gators after a hurricane hits their Florida town.
Rounding out the weekend’s top 10 were:
“Yesterday” ($3.1 million)
“Aladdin” ($3 million)
“Stuber” ($1.8 million)
“Annabelle Comes Home” ($1.6 million)
“The Farewell” ($1.5 million)
© Agence France-Presse
