Earlier this month The Lion King topped the live-action Beauty and the Beast and animated smash hit Frozen to become Walt Disney Pictures’ highest-grossing film ever (and the biggest animated release of all time, despite Disney itself pushing it as live-action), and now the Jon Favreau-directed remake has become only the ninth movie ever to pass $1.5 billion at the worldwide box office.
Domestically, The Lion King has grossed $510.6 million since its release last month, with a further $997.9 million from the international markets giving it a total of $1.509 billion and counting.
Given that it continues to shift tickets over the summer holidays, The Lion King should go on to surpass both Furious 7 ($1.516 billion) and The Avengers ($1.519 billion) within the week, although it’s likely going to have to settle for seventh in the all time chart behind 2015’s Jurassic World on $1.672 billion.
The Lion King is one of five Disney releases to pass $1 billion in 2019 alongside Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, Aladdin and Toy Story 4, and they’re likely to be joined by Frozen 2 and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker before the year is out.
Lions rule the African savanna in The Lion King, which welcomes Donald Glover (Atlanta, Solo: A Star Wars Story) as future king Simba, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter (Dreamgirls, Lemonade visual album) as Simba’s friend-turned-love interest Nala, and James Earl Jones (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Field of Dreams) as Simba’s wise and loving father, Mufasa, reprising his iconic performance from Disney’s 1994 animated classic. Chiwetel Ejiofor (Twelve Years a Slave, Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange) was called on to portray Simba’s villainous uncle Scar, and Alfre Woodard (Juanita, Marvel’s Luke Cage) portrays Simba’s no-nonsense mother, Sarabi. JD McCrary (OWN’s Tyler Perry’s The Paynes, Apple’s Vital Signs) fills the shoes of Young Simba, a confident cub who can’t wait to be king, and Shahadi Wright Joseph (NBC’s Hairspray Live, Broadway’s The Lion King) brings tough cub Young Nala to life.
Directed by Jon Favreau (The Jungle Book), The Lion King features a voice cast that includes Donald Glover (Solo: A Star Wars Story) as Simba, Beyonce (Dreamgirls) as Nala, Billy Eichner (Billy on the Street) as Timon, Seth Rogen (Sausage Party) as Pumbaa, John Oliver (Last Week Tonight) as Zazu, Chiwetel Ejiofor (Doctor Strange) as Scar, James Earl Jones (The Lion King) as Mufasa, Alfre Woodard (Luke Cage) as Sarabi, John Kani (Black Panther) as Rafiki, JD McCrary (Vital Signs) as Young Simba, Shahadi Wright Joseph (Hairspray Live) as Young Nala, Eric André (Man Seeking Woman) as Azizi, Florence Kasumba (Black Panther) as Shenzi, and Keegan-Michael Key (The Predator) as Kamari.
