‘Lion King’ Tracking for Huge $150M-Plus Box Office Debut

Look for The Lion King to roar loudly and proudly in its box office debut.

One major tracking service shows the movie bowing to $150 million-plus, according to those with access to the data, which indicates sizeable awareness and interest. (At the same time, tracking has been off as of late in terms of an exact opening prediction. Nor is tracking a measure of a film’s ultimate success.)

The Lion King, an update of the beloved 1994 animated film, opens July 19.

In regards to first choice, tracking shows the pic tied with Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast, which launched to $174.8 million domestically.

Jon Favreau is once again in the director’s chair after helming the Jungle Book remake for Disney. Moving Picture Company (MPC) handled the VFX. The Lion King is being made using the latest “virtual production” techniques, meaning it incorporates live-action production techniques, although the final film will be CG.

The movie features the voices of Donald Glover, Beyonce Knowles-Carter, Seth Rogen, Alfre Woodard, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Billy Eichner, John Kani and John Oliver. James Earl Jones reprises his original role as Mufasa.

Outside of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, only three of Disney’s live-action titles have opened north of $100 million, including Beauty and the Beast. The Jungle Book debuted to $103.3 million, while Alice In Wonderland started off with $116 million.

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