Weekend Box Office: Lion King Already Near $1 Billion, Hollywood is Tarantino's Biggest Opener

By Chris Kavan - 07/28/19 at 09:13 PM CT

The Lion King may have taken a hefty hit in its second weekend, but it didn't stop it from taking the top box office spot as well as nearly topping $1 billion worldwide after just two weeks out. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood took the second place spot and it was also the biggest three-day opening for director Quentin Tarantino. Meanwhile, both Spider-Man: Far from Home and Aladdin joined the $1 billion club and The Farewell, after have a smash indie opening, broke into the top 10 despite playing in under 140 theaters. Overall, the week was once again up compared to the same weekend in 2018 as the year finally kicks things into high gear.

1) THE LION KING

Disney's slightly unnerving not live-action remake of The Lion King continues its domination. However, it came with a second-week drop of 60.6% - which is high, but not that surprising considering its massive opening weekend. The film still took in $75.5 million for a new domestic total of $350.77 million, crossing that $350 million mark in easy fashion. While that drop is the largest among all of Disney's remakes and only the 12th film to drop over $100 million from its first to second week.. but in the long run it's going to be a moot point. Judging by previous multipliers, The Lion King is still going to top $500 million - likely on a run to at least $550 million with a chance to hit $600 million should audiences not be swayed by the likes of Dora and the Lost City of Gold and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. More impressive for this remake is its international total: $611.9 million representing nearly 64% of its total gross and a big reason why is is nearly at $1 billion already - sitting just short at $962.7 million. It will join the $1 billion club before next weekend - less than three weeks, better than the four weeks it took Spider-Man and the ten weeks Aladdin has had to put in. So I'm certain Disney isn't concerned at all about the second-week drop and it will be interesting to see how close it comes to The Incredibles 2 in terms of animation domination.

2) ONCE UPON A TIME ... IN HOLLYWOOD

While it may have not taken the top spot at the box office, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood did take the top spot for director Quentin Tarantino. With a $40.35 million opening, it topped Inglourious Basterds ($38 million) to become the biggest opening for the director. The film, headlined by two huge stars in Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio, earned a "B" Cinemascore from audiences that was made up of 54% male with 64% coming in age 25 or older. That opening is also in line with DiCaprio's The Revenant ($39 million) and Shutter Island ($41 million). Tarantino has called this his magnum opus as the story focuses on a washed up actor and his long-time stuntman in 1969 Hollywood - at the same time Charles Manson was developing a cult following culminating in the murder of Sharon Tate (played by Margot Robbie in the film) and her guests. While many of Tarantino's films are steeped in violence, this is a much more subdued and personal picture and, judging by the response, may well end up as the biggest of Tarantino's long career. As always, the coming week will tell the tale, but if adults continue to support this, there is no reason it won't play well as summer segues into fall.

3) SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME

Entering its fourth weekends, Spider-Man: Far from Home took a 42.5% hit, adding $12.2 million to its total, which now stands at a cool $344.4 million. That is already double its $160 million budget and $350 million is a lock. Sure, The Lion King hit that mark in a mere two weeks, but Spider-Man is no slouch. In bigger and better news (should you believe certain rumors) Far from Home hit the $1 billion mark on the worldwide front, taking in $692.4 million overseas for a $1.03 billion global total. So even if those rumors weren't true, I guess the $1 billion guarantees Spider-Man is not officially in Disney's pocket and the MCU is safe to continue with the web-slinging hero. That makes it the ninth film in the MCU to top that mark as well as the only Spider-Man film to do so thus far. The film should last throughout August as it heads towards the $400 million mark.


4) TOY STORY 4

Dropping a single place as well, Toy Story 4 dipped 36.5% and added $9.87 million to its total, which now stands at $395.6 million - within spitting distance of that $400 million mark. And, with $917 million worldwide, it is close to also joining the $1 billion club, though it may fall just short of that mark. No matter, Woody and company are holding up just fine considering this is the fourth film in a franchise. Most franchises don't get a fourth film at all and many that do see much bigger diminishing returns (not always, but most of the time) thus Toy Story joins a very exclusive club of multiple sequel franchises that manage to stay strong. Hey, John Wick, you're up next!



5) CRAWL

The summer's most fun creature feature survival environmental show-stopper took a mere 34.4% hit, adding another $4 million to its total, which is sitting at $31.4 million, over double its $13.5 million budget. Sure, it also means it pushed Yesterday out of the top five (for shame) but with $45.8 million global, Crawl is doing anything but, looking to be the go-to action/horror film of the summer (thus far). I figure it will hit at least $40 million, which is just fine for a film about killer gators during a hurricane.





Outside the top five: Spider-Man wasn't the only film celebrating the $1 billion milestone, not even the only film for Disney, as Aladdin added $2.78 million (7th place), giving it a new $345.9 million domestic and $1.009 billion worldwide total. As a note, it is the first film for Will Smith to cross that milestone as well as the third in Disney's live action remakes - soon to be overtaken by The Lion King, but impressive none-the-less.

Despite playing in just 135 theaters, The Farewell still managed a place in the top 10, taking the 10th place spot with $1.55 million and a new $3.68 million total. It continues to be impressive as it expands and it will be most interesting to see if this excitement spills over to general audiences as it is set to go nationwide soon.

Next week, for the third week in a row now, only sees one new film going into wide release, the Fast and Furious spinoff film, Hobbs & Shaw. We'll see how it opens compares to the main franchise, but the trailers make it look like a fun romp.

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