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‘Lion King’ and Tarantino’s Hollywood Tale Boost Box Office

Audiences gave an 83% favorable score to Once Upon a Time while Lion King has an 89% positive ranking at the website.

‘Lion King’ and Tarantino’s Hollywood Tale Boost Box Office
‘Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood’ debuted at No. 2, behind repeat winner ‘Lion King’ (Source: Sony Pictures)

(Bloomberg) -- “The Lion King” and director Quentin Tarantino’s film tribute to 1960s Hollywood delivered a needed boost to the box office, giving North American theaters another strong weekend after months of slow sales.

‘Lion King’ and Tarantino’s Hollywood Tale Boost Box Office
  • Walt Disney Co.’s “Lion King” delivered $76.6 million in domestic ticket sales in its second weekend, researcher Comscore Inc. said Monday. Analysts were forecasting $90 million to $94 million. “Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood,” the Tarantino-Sony Pictures film about ’60s-era movie-making, made its debut with $41.1 million, at the high end of projections. The film, Tarantino’s ninth, had the biggest opening weekend of his career.
‘Lion King’ and Tarantino’s Hollywood Tale Boost Box Office

Key Insights

  • Both films won over moviegoing fans, according to ratings at Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences gave an 83% favorable score to “Once Upon a Time,” which features Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie in the starring roles. “Lion King” overcame tough critics’ reviews and has an 89% positive ranking among audiences at the website.
  • While it’s an undeniable hit, “The Lion King” dropped much more than expected, over 60%, one of the largest such drops among Disney’s live-action remakes, according to Box Office Mojo.
  • Nonetheless, Disney has outdone itself, surpassing the all-time global box-office record with an estimated $7.67 billion to date. That is before releasing two of its most anticipated films, the finale to “Star Wars” trilogy and a sequel to “Frozen” later this year.
  • Hollywood’s summer 2019 strategy -- releasing a new superhero sequel every two weeks or so -- has delivered uneven results for theaters so far. But Bloomberg Intelligence forecasts that the season’s sales may edge past last year’s $4.4 billion. There’s also still a chance annual box-office sales can reach a record $12 billion, they say.
‘Lion King’ and Tarantino’s Hollywood Tale Boost Box Office
‘Lion King’ and Tarantino’s Hollywood Tale Boost Box Office

Get More

  • See the weekend release schedule here.
  • See Box Office Pro’s long-range forecast.

--With assistance from Anousha Sakoui.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rob Golum in Los Angeles at rgolum@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, Rob Golum

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.