The Lion King Remake Makes $1 Billion, Beats the Original at the Global Box Office in 3 Weeks
Less than three weeks after it roared into theaters, Disney’s The Lion King has passed $1 billion at the global box office.
Directer Jon Favreau‘s remake of the 1994 classic animated film has made $361 million at the domestic box office and $639 million overseas, where it was released early in certain countries, according to Deadline.
The outlet notes that The Lion King joins Aladdin, Avengers: Endgame and Captain Marvel as the fourth Disney movie to cross the global billion-dollar mark this year.
The Lion King‘s huge haul also means it’s surpassed the box office earnings of the original 1994 film, which made $968 million internationally, according to Box Office Mojo.
The new milestones come after the film — which features the voices of Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, Beyoncé, Alfre Woodard and Billy Eichner, among others — broke records during its first weekend in theaters.
Following its release earlier this month, The Lion King became the highest scoring domestic launch ever for a PG-rated film and the highest July film opening ever.
Over the weekend, Favreau, 52, revealed that there was one “real shot” featured in the CGI-animated blockbuster.
As Favreau explained to his Twitter followers, the scene occurs at the very beginning of the film as “The Circle of Life” sets the plot into motion, just as in the original.
“This is the only real shot in #TheLionKing,” he shared, alongside a still from the scene. “There are 1490 rendered shots created by animators and CG artists. I slipped in one single shot that we actually photographed in Africa to see if anyone would notice. It is the first shot of the movie that begins The Circle of Life.”
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This is the only real shot in #TheLionKing. There are 1490 rendered shots created by animators and CG artists. I slipped in one single shot that we actually photographed in Africa to see if anyone would notice. It is the first shot of the movie that begins The Circle of Life. pic.twitter.com/CO0spSyCv4
— Jon Favreau (@Jon_Favreau) July 26, 2019
RELATED: The Lion King Director Reveals There’s One ‘Real Shot’ in Hit CGI Remake
Beyoncé, 37, dropped a new album accompanying the release of the film, called The Lion King: The Gift.
The album — which is separate from the movie’s official soundtrack — features Kendrick Lamar, Pharrell Williams and Wiz Kid, as well as her husband JAY-Z. Beyoncé’s costar Glover, who plays Simba in the film, also appears on the album as his musical alter ego, Childish Gambino.
The Lion King is in theaters now.
