Image Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios

Saturday Update: Disney’s CG remake of The Lion King is living up to big pre-release expectations as the studio reports this morning that the film smashed its way to $78.5 million domestically on opening day Friday, including Thursday night previews. That bests The Dark Knight Rises ($75.8 million) as the second highest single or opening day gross in July history, trailing only the $91.1 million first day of 2011’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.

Globally, the film hit $270.5 million on Friday with the three-day total for 52 material overseas markets reaching $111 million, plus China’s $81 million since releasing last week.

Domestic Breakdowns & Records

Overall, Lion King posted the 10th best opening day in industry history. In the process, it surpassed the first day earnings of notable titles such as Black Panther ($75.94 million), Incredibles 2 ($71.3 million), 2017’s Beauty and the Beast ($63.8 million), and the recent Toy Story 4 ($47.4 million).

Strictly speaking, since the remake was filmed virtually entirely in a computer setting, this could also be viewed as the highest opening day gross of all-time for an “animated” film — surpassing the aforementioned Incredibles 2.

Weekend projections vary at this early stage of the weekend. While Lion King did post a slightly front-loaded 3.41x multiplier (compared to TS4‘s 3.95x) from Thursday night’s $23 million start to the overall $78.25 million first day, that type of fan rush was expected given the anticipation for the film and decades of popularity built not just by the original film itself, but its iconic soundtrack and record-breaking stage play adaptation.

Nevertheless, this is a family-driven film at this point that has very little direct competition in the weeks ahead, an “A” CinemaScore, and a very encouraging 89 percent Verified Audience Score from 9,052 Rotten Tomatoes users.

Breaking down the numbers, it’s reasonable to expect the post-Thursday night trends of Toy Story 4 as a likely outcome for domestic performance. That film earned just over 3x its “Friday proper” gross (sans Thursday previews) throughout opening weekend. A similar trajectory for Lion King would translate to over $190 million for the weekend when counting previews, and $200 million remains a significant possibility depending on weekend and matinee play. In either case, it’s trending to post one of the top nine weekends in industry history — ahead of Captain America: Civil War ($179.1 million) and Incredibles 2.

The current July record is held by Deathly Hallows Part 2‘s $169.2 million. Disney itself is projecting $175 million for Lion as of this morning.

The Lion King Internationally

Disney’s latest blockbuster opened in another 10 markets yesterday, including the United Kingdom, Spain, and Mexico. Having debuted in 52 countries now, the remake has earned $111 million in three days of staggered release. Combined with China’s $81 cume, the overseas haul stands at $192 million entering Saturday.

Disney’s notes and overseas breakdowns are below, followed by our domestic weekend estimates for key titles. Studio updates to follow on Sunday.

Territories GBO China $81.0M France $11.2M Australia $8.9M Brazil $8.3M Russia $7.6M Germany $6.6M UK $6.5M Korea $6.4M Mexico $5.9M Spain $3.7M Netherlands $3.5M Other $42.4M Total $192.0M

Friday key openers

· UK: Opened with the biggest opening day for a Disney branded live action film ever. 2nd highest opening day of 2019 to date behind only Avengers: Endgame.

· Mexico: Opened with the 5th highest industry opening day of all-time. +66% above opening day of Beauty and the Beast.

· Spain: Opened with the 2nd highest opening day of 2019 to date behind only Avengers: Endgame.

· Rest of Europe: 4th highest industry opening day of all-time in South Africa. Biggest opening day for a Disney branded live action film ever in Poland.

Early Weekend Estimates (Domestic)

FRI, JUL. 19 – SUN, JUL. 21

WIDE (1000+) # TITLE WEEKEND LOCATIONS AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST. 1 The Lion King $192,500,000 — 4,725 — $40,741 $192,500,000 1 Walt Disney Pictures 2 Spider-Man: Far from Home $21,000,000 -54% 4,415 -219 $4,757 $319,659,412 3 Sony / Columbia 3 Toy Story 4 $13,600,000 -35% 3,750 -460 $3,627 $374,533,349 5 Disney 4 Crawl $5,400,000 -55% 3,170 0 $1,703 $23,234,810 2 Paramount Pictures 5 Yesterday $4,800,000 -28% 2,662 -93 $1,803 $57,296,465 4 Universal Pictures 6 Stuber $3,900,000 -53% 3,050 0 $1,279 $15,981,864 2 20th Century Fox 7 Aladdin $3,700,000 -40% 2,105 -452 $1,758 $339,940,714 9 Disney 8 Annabelle Comes Home $2,600,000 -54% 1,981 -1228 $1,312 $66,522,201 4 Warner Bros. 9 Midsommar $1,600,000 -56% 1,105 -1602 $1,448 $22,483,028 3 A24 10 The Secret Life of Pets 2 $1,500,000 -53% 1,380 -940 $1,087 $151,521,165 7 Universal

LIMITED (100 — 999) # TITLE WEEKEND LOCATIONS AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST. 1 Avengers: Endgame $1,300,000 -38% 985 -458 $1,320 $854,317,643 13 Disney 2 The Art of Self-Defense $1,200,000 949% 550 543 $2,182 $1,359,289 2 Bleecker Street 3 Rocketman $920,000 -45% 720 -612 $1,278 $93,937,371 8 Paramount Pictures 4 John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum $600,000 -55% 584 -561 $1,027 $168,831,227 10 Lionsgate 5 Men in Black: International $540,000 -76% 554 -1058 $975 $78,164,108 6 Sony / Columbia 6 Dark Phoenix $195,000 -2% 185 -15 $1,054 $65,371,540 7 Fox 7 Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable $50,000 -79% 138 -67 $362 $440,024 2 Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures

PLATFORM (1 — 99) # TITLE WEEKEND LOCATIONS AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST. 1 Anna $65,000 -16% 73 -19 $890 $7,612,489 5 Lionsgate / Summit 2 Dumbo $40,000 -13% 65 -27 $615 $114,710,281 17 Walt Disney Pictures

Friday Update: Disney reports today that The Lion King bowed to a stellar $23 million domestically from Thursday evening shows, setting the stage for a massive weekend ahead. Last night’s earnings registered 24 percent higher than Incredibles 2 ($18.5 million), 92 percent more than Toy Story 4 ($12 million), and more than triple Aladdin ($7 million). This is a new record for Disney among their non-Marvel and non-Star Wars properties.

Although the studio notes that Thursday results “continue to be an inconsistent measure of ultimate weekend play,” this initial start suggests the film has a significant chance to come in well ahead of industry tracking reports and close to bullish end of pre-release forecasts.

Internationally, the film opened in another 22 markets on Thursday (including Russia and Brazil). Having opened in 42 countries over the past two days, those territories have generated $53.9 million to date. That exclude’s China’s $76.6 million tally since opening one week ago. Internationally, Lion King stands at a strong $130.5 million entering this weekend.

More updates throughout the weekend. Current international breakdowns and notes from Disney below:

Territories GBO China $76.6M France $8.3M Australia $5.5M Brazil $4.5M Germany $4.2M Russia $4.1M Netherlands $2.3M Korea $2.2M Other $22.8M Total $130.5M

Thursday key openers Opened at #1 in all Thursday opening markets.

Brazil: Opened with the 2 nd highest industry opening day of all-time , behind only Avengers: Endgame. More than double the opening day of Beauty and the Beast.

Opened with , behind only Avengers: Endgame. More than double the opening day of Beauty and the Beast. Russia: Opened with the 3 rd highest industry opening day of all-time . More than triple the opening day of Beauty and the Beast.

Opened with . More than triple the opening day of Beauty and the Beast. Argentina: Opened with the 5 th highest industry opening day of all-time . More than double the opening day of Beauty and the Beast.

Opened with . More than double the opening day of Beauty and the Beast. Rest of Latin America: Opened with the highest opening day of all-time across the region for a Disney branded live action film. More than double the opening day of Beauty and the Beast. Wednesday key openers France: Opened with the 2 nd biggest opening day for a Disney live action film ever, behind only Avengers: Endgame .

Opened with behind only Avengers: Endgame Netherlands: Opened with the 3 rd highest industry opening day of all-time .

Opened with . Sweden: Opened with the 5 th highest industry opening day of all-time .

Opened with . Australia: Opened with the biggest opening day for a Disney branded live action film ever.

Opened with Korea: Opened with the biggest opening day for a Disney branded/Lucas live action film ever.

Opened with New Zealand: Opened with the 3rd highest industry opening day of all-time . The Lion King continues rolling out this weekend and will be open in all of the material international markets by Sunday with the exception of Japan, Italy and Hong Kong. Today sees further openings in Spain, UK and Mexico along with Poland, South Africa, Turkey, India, Vietnam, Ecuador and Venezuela. We’ll have a comprehensive look at the international debut on Sunday.

Thursday Update: Disney reports The Lion King earned $22 million from 19 opening markets on Wednesday, including standouts from France ($4.8 million) and Australia ($2.9 million). The latter more than tripled Aladdin‘s first day and bested Beauty and the Beast by over 40 percent.

In China, the film has earned $72.6 million through six days of play, lifting the global haul to $94.5 million through Wednesday.

The film is poised for a big domestic launch this weekend as well, which you can read our analysis and scenarios on here.

Today’s studio note and territory breakdown:

The Lion King is off to a roaring start as we head into the global day-and-date debut this weekend. It continues to perform strongly in China where it has earned $72.6M already after 6 days, and debuts in 19 additional markets yesterday saw impressive results. It posted the #2 highest opening day of the year behind only Avengers: Endgame in several markets, including France, Germany, Netherlands, Australia, and New Zealand. France is a standout where the opening day of $4.8M stands as the biggest live action release from The Walt Disney Studios behind only Avengers: Endgame in terms of admissions. The opening day was more than double the opening days of Beauty and the Beast and The Jungle Book in France, Germany, and Korea. With $72.6M in China and an additional $22M across new openers, the cume to date is already $94.5M. The Lion King will be open in all international markets with the exception of Japan, Italy and Hong Kong by Sunday. Today sees further openings in 22 territories including Russia and Brazil.