The roar of “The Lion King” rattled the cinematic world
Sunday as the new Disney film scored a huge debut in North American theaters
with an estimated $185 million for the three-day weekend, industry watcher
Exhibitor Relations reported.
It was frosting on the cake for Disney, whose “Avengers: Endgame” is on the verge of passing “Avatar” as the all-time most money-making movie. Disney said Friday it expected that to happen this weekend, although Exhibitor Relations’ figures showed it still slightly short of the record.
“The Lion King,” director Jon Favreau’s update of the classic 1994 animated film, notched the biggest domestic launch ever for a PG-rated film, and an all-time record for a July release, the Hollywood Reporter said. Worldwide, the movie has passed the half-billion-dollar mark.
The film employs hyper-realistic computer-generated images and has a voice cast including Donald Glover as Simba and Beyonce as Nala, as well as Seth Rogen, Chiwetel Ejiofor and James Earl Jones.
Well back in second place was Sony’s “Spider-Man: Far From Home” at $21 million. The latest installment in the blockbuster franchise picks up where “Avengers: Endgame” left off, with Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man atop a cast including Samuel L. Jackson, Zendaya, Jake Gyllenhaal — and Favreau.
In third was “Toy Story 4,” taking in $14.6 million in its fifth week out. The family-friendly Disney/Pixar animation features the voices of Tom Hanks (Woody) and Tim Allen (Buzz Lightyear).
Fourth spot went to Paramount’s “Crawl,” at $6 million. The disaster thriller tells the story of a father and daughter (Barry Pepper and Kaya Scodelario) battling hungry gators after a hurricane hit their Florida town.
And in fifth was Universal’s “Yesterday,” at $5.1 million. The sweet comedy is based on the entertaining if fantastic premise of a struggling musician (Himesh Patel) being one of the only people on Earth who remembers the Beatles. Singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran has an amusing cameo.
Rounding out the weekend’s top 10 were:
“Stuber” ($4 million)
“Aladdin” ($3.8 million)
“Annabelle Comes Home” ($2.7 million)
“Midsommar” ($1.6 million)
“The Secret Life of Pets 2” ($1.5 million)
15 quick facts about ‘Lion King’ and Beyoncé’s ‘The Gift’
American singer Beyoncé has recently released an accompanying album to the Disney movie, The Lion King. She titled it The Gift.
Critics are of the view that Beyoncé’s album takes an approach that is more inspired than a simple retread of familiar songs.
Discussing the 27-track release on Good Morning America and why she featured some of Africa’s best talents, Beyoncé explains, “This soundtrack is a love letter to Africa, and I wanted to make sure we found some of the best talent in Africa.”
Beyonce, who is the executive producer of The Gift, described the album as a personal project inspired by The Lion King, saying it’s a love letter to Africa.
Meanwhile, here are handful facts about the Lion King movie:
1. The classic 1994 animated feature movie, Lion King, is 25 years old.
2. In a remake album, American singer, Beyoncé, last Friday July 19, 2019 released an accompanying album to the film, titled, The Gift.
3. The Lion King is the third of four live-action remakes of Disney classics this year alone.
4. Beyoncé fills the role of Nala, a sibling of Simba.
5. Many stars of Nigeria’s Afrobeats genre featured in Beyoncé’s live-action Lion King remake.
6. The actors include Wizkid, Tekno, Yemi Alade, Mr. Eazi, Burna Boy, and Tiwa Savage.
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7. Other actors are also drawn various from other African countries such as Cameroon, Ghana, and South Africa.
8. A lady, Libationer Sugz, with Twitter handle @sugabelly, condemns the ‘all-Yoruba cast’ of The Gift, asking, “Where were (Igbo singers such as) Phyno? Nneka?”
9. Lion King is the first Disney animated film to feature a completely original story line.
10. Pumbaa was the first Disney character to ever fart on screen.
11. In November 1991, some of the film’s animators travelled to Hell’s Gate National Park in Kenya for research and inspiration for the film.
12. The famous ‘Hakuna Matata’ only became part of the script after the researchers’ trip to Kenya.
13. Jim Fowler, a wildlife expert, brought real animals to the studio to help the film’s animators study their movements.
14. It is the highest-grossing hand-drawn animated feature of all time with $968.5 box office in total.
15. It has inspired hope among the Nigerian fans of the featured artistes that their idols will win a Grammy’s on its account.
With AFP report
