'Lion King' fends off Tarantino, maintains box office rule
Disney's 'The Lion King' held on to its reign in North American theaters.
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Disney s "The Lion King" held on to its reign in North American theaters, taking in $75.5 million over the three-day weekend, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations said on Sunday.
The healthy haul for the Disney production brought its total to $350.8 million and put it on top of the box office for the second week in a row, capping a streak of successes for the studio after its "Avengers: Endgame" was last week named the highest-grossing movie of all time and now has global box office earnings of $2.7924 billion.
Directed by Jon Favreau, "The Lion King" is a remake of the 1994 animated film, employing hyper-realistic computer-generated images with a voice cast including Donald Glover as Simba and Beyonce as Nala, together with Seth Rogen, Chiwetel Ejiofor and James Earl Jones.
Despite rave reviews, director Quentin Tarantino s "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood," came in a distant second place with $40.4 million.
The ninth of the 10 movies Tarantino has said he will make before retiring, "Once Upon a Time" is set in Tinseltown in 1969 and features an ensemble cast typical of the director s work, with Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Dakota Fanning and Al Pacino among the stars.
"Spider-Man: Far from Home" came in third in its fourth week with $12.2 million. Continuing where "Avengers: Endgame" left off, the production by Sony and Disney s Marvel Studios is the latest installment in the blockbuster franchise, with Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man leading a cast that includes Samuel L. Jackson, Zendaya and Jake Gyllenhaal.
"Toy Story 4," came in fourth, taking in $9.9 million in its sixth week in cinemas, which have brought it more than $395.6 million in total.
The latest installment in the family-friendly Disney/Pixar animation franchise that began in 1995, the movie features the voices of Tom Hanks (Woody) and Tim Allen (Buzz Lightyear).
The fifth spot went to Paramount s "Crawl," with $4 million in its third week. Barry Pepper and Kaya Scodelario play a father and daughter battling hungry gators after a hurricane hits their Florida town.
