Lion King Reclaims Throne at US Weekend B-O

SEPT 19, 2011 - Just as it did 17 years ago when the original version first hit the cinemas, new updated The Lion King 3D opened in first place ruling the North American box office. Doubling industry expectations, the Disney smash grossed more than the weekend's three other new films combined. The action drama Drive generated a moderate debut in No. 3, while the remake thriller Straw Dogs and the comedy I Don't Know How She Does It both failed to excite audiences.

Contagion dropped to No. 2, earning an estimated US14.5 million while The Help is still in the Top 5 list at No.4.

On the surface, The Lion King 3D's success seems surprising, given the declining interest families have shown towards 3D lately and the fact that the Blu-ray is set for release just a few weeks from now. That's failing to take in to account the incredible popularity of The Lion King, though: between its original 1994 release and its 2002 IMAX re-release, the movie was the highest-grossing hand-drawn animated movie of all-time with US$328.5 million, or the equivalent of over US$600 million adjusted for ticket price inflation.

Here are the Top 5 North American B-O studio estimates for Sept 16-18, 2011 weekend, in terms of rank, (previous week ranking), Movie name (studio), Weekend takings in USD, (Cumulative gross, USD) and week on chart, courtesy of Boxofficemojo. (US$1=RM3)

1. (-) The Lion King (in 3D) (Buena Vista) $29.3 million ($29.3 million) 1

2. (1) Contagion (WB) $14.5 million ($44.2 million) 2

3. (-) Drive (2011) (FilmDistrict) $11 million ($11 million) 1

4. (2) The Help (Buena Vista) $6.4 million ($147.4 million) 6

5. (-) Straw Dogs (2011) (Sony/Screen Gems) $5 million ($5 million) 1