The Lion King already SMASHED this box office record: How much money will it make?

Disney live action remakes have been a bit hit and miss over the last few years. Beauty and the Beast soared past one billion dollars but the recent Dumbo failed to take flight, stalling at $315million worldwide. Aladdin has fared much better with a strong $815million, although the home total of $217million was a little underwhelming. The Lion King remake is on track to blow that out of the water. 

The 1994 original cartoon actually took more money (even before adjusting for inflation) than Aladdin, both domestically and overseas. 

The Lion King took $317million in the US and $968million in total, 25 years ago and all the signs are now pointing to equally spectacular results this time around.

US advance ticket sales and sites are reporting record-breaking numbers.

The most impressive is the staggering statistic that it has shifted FOUR times as many advance tickets as Aladdin.

Cinemablend reports that across sites like Fandango and Atom The Lion King is outselling every other Disney animation so far.

It has already outpaced Toy Story 4, which is going strong on $279million worldwide after just four days in cinemas, and last year’s billion-dollar Black Panther.

With enormous affection and reverence for the original (the first animated film ever nominated for a Best Film Oscar) and a cast including global superstar Beyonce, Disney’s latest live action remake looks set to become one of the biggest films of all time.

Can it beat Avengers Endgame?

It seems very unlikely it will come close to Avengers 4’s record-shattering one billion opening weekend, but even half that would be an incredible achievement.

One thing seems certain, Disney’s remakes do better when they do not tamper with the original plot or discard the original songs like Dumbo.

The Lion King is also rumoured to come with a mystery track by Beyonce.

Who rules the world now? 

THE LION KING IS OUT ON JULY 19