By Chris Kavan - 07/17/19 at 08:38 PM CT
While Spider-Man: Far from Home has ruled the box office over the last two weekends, the Marvel hero is about to meet his match with The Lion King. The updated remake is sure to take the top spot as the only new film coming out - and Spider-Man will have to settle for runner-up. The big question is whether Disney will sink Disney - as Spider-Man is sure to take the biggest hit from this blockbuster. But I guess when you hold all the cards, it's not really that big of deal in the end and it only comes down to whether it will truly prevent the web-slinger from hitting that reported $1 billion worldwide or not.
THE LION KING A lot of critics have been pretty savage when it comes to this updated Lion King. They call the film unoriginal - as it follows the animated classic almost to the letter, they call it unsettling because the photo-realism is off-putting and they call it soulless as this style takes all the fun out of the music and big set pieces. But you know what else critics didn't like? Aladdin - which currently sits at 57% rotten, while Lion King is barely above it at 58% rotten. You know what else? Aladdin currently has earned over $334 million domestic and is fast approaching $1 billion worldwide. The Lion King was more popular than Aladdin and thus I think movie-goers are once again not going to heed the word of critics and make this one of the biggest movies of the summer. Look, when you have Donald Glover, Beyoncé, Chiwetel Ejiofor, James Earl Jones, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, John Oliver and Alfre Woodard all on board - the talent alone is likely to drive in audiences. Factor in the nostalgia factor for adults and the wonder factor for their children - this is a sure-fire hit that, much like Beauty and the Beast before it - doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to capture enough of that magic to make young and old alike happy. And based on what I've seen - it will have no problem doing just that. Critics can cry and moan all they like, much like any MCU film, critics aren't going to be the driving force behind this one, audiences are, and I have a feeling the score coming out of theaters is going to be high. The Lion King is going to dominate the box office, we'll see just how high it gets.
There isn't going to be any surprises at the box office this weekend. The only question will be how big The Lion King opens and how much it affects Spider-Man in doing so. I'll be back on Sunday with the full rundown.
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