As expected, Disney’s The Lion King has smashed the box office over the weekend. According to the reports, The Lion King has grossed over $185 million in box offices across North American 4,725 theaters, USA Today reports. This is the biggest domestic opening for a PG-rated film in the U.S ever. The 1994 remake exceeded expectations, going over the $150 million industry insiders thought it would gross. Globally, the movie did even better, raking $531 million in Europe, China and other countries.
We’ve had a spectacular run this weekend,” Cathleen Taff, Disney’s president of distribution, said in a statement. “We really did know we had something special with (“The Lion King”) given its popularity with fans of all ages.”
The cast was star studded starring Beyoncé, Donald Glover, Alfre Woodard, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Seth Rogen, ,Billy Eichner, John Kani and James Earl Jones who returned to reprise role as Simba’s father Mufasa.
The remake outdid it’s predecessor too. Back in 1994, the original grossed over $40 million its opening weekend and $968,483,777 in total. The original also took home two Academy Awards, so hopefully the remake will follow in its footsteps. Hopefully the soundtrack, The Lion King: The Gift,will take home some trophies too. Sir Elton John had won the Oscar for best original song for “Can You Feel the Love Tonight.”
Bey, who executive-produced the soundtrack, said she made sure to create a full soundtrack that was inspired by the sounds of Africa.
“This soundtrack is a love letter to Africa, and I wanted to make sure we found the best talent from Africa, and not just use some of the sounds and did my interpretation of it. I wanted it to be authentic to what is beautiful about the music in Africa,” she said during a sit down with ABC News’s Robin Roberts.