Even with the impending Blu-ray release of The Lion King, the film is a huge draw, as its visual grandeur works better on the big screen. This weekend, its attendance declined by just 26.6% and in ten days, the movie has earned $61.6 million. Adding that to the traditionally-animated feature's previous haul produces a cumulative domestic total of $390 million, which places The Lion King at number twelve on the all-time domestic earners. Disney announced the 3D re-release as a limited two-week engagement, but if the studio opts instead to let the King keep playing, the film will definitely cross the $400 million mark and break the all-time top ten.
With excellent reviews and the presence of incredibly famous good-looking person Brad Pitt, Sony's Moneyball came in second place with an estimated $20.6 million weekend. While it couldn't quite usurp The Lion King in the number one spot, that opening makes Moneyball's debut the biggest opening for a baseball movie, not adjusted for inflation. On Friday, the grown-up, dialogue-heavy drama actually outperformed The Lion King, but the more demographically-inclusive animated movie handily won on Saturday.
A second place opening isn't bad for a movie about new statistical metrics (even one written by Steve Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin), but Moneyball might end up having to settle for third. There's less than $400,000 separating its estimate from current third place film Dolphin Tale, so by the time the actual weekend figures are made public on Monday, the two films might just swap places. The latter movie is an inspiring, family-oriented crowd-pleaser about a little boy's connection to a dolphin whose tale was lost in a crab trap. About 50% of its $20.2 million haul comes from 3D exhibitions, and while that's still low by pre-summer 3D standards, it's of interest because the film lacks the usual spectacle associated with 3D.
Both of those new releases impressed in he first three days, but this weekend's action fare did not perform quite so well. Abduction, the John Singleton-directed attempt to create an action franchise for Taylor Lautner outside of the Twilight franchise with which he's so inextricably linked, opened in fourth place with an $11.2 million estimate. The film was marketed as a Bourne Identity-style action thrilller, but it seems that this failed to bring in action aficionados. 68% of the audience were female and 56% were below 25 years old. So while men weren't flocking to see the movie, Lautner's fanbase showed a willingness to partake in cinematic fisticuffs.
Abduction had been projected to pull in $15 million, so the estimate is a bit of a disappointment. Similarly, the week's final new release, Killer Elite was pegged to make between $10 million and $12 million, but is estimated to have grossed $9.5 million. The film, which stars Jason Statham, Clive Owen, and Robert De Niro, was marketed as another in the long line of movies wherein Statham plays a badass, with The Scorpions' "Rock You Like a Hurricane" promising all manner of masculinity. It seems that audiences were simply not in the mood to be rocked.
Here's the top ten for the weekend
1. The Lion King $22.1 million $61.6 million
2. Moneyball $20.6 million New Release
3. Dolphin Tale $20.2 million New Release
4. Abduction
5. Killer Elite $9.5 million New Release
6. Contagion $8.5 million $57.1 million
7. Drive $5.7 million $21.4 million
8. The Help $4.4 million $154.4 million
9. Straw Dogs $2.1 million $8.8 million
10. I Don't Know How She Does It $2.0 million $8.0 million
Net week sees the release of dramedy 50/50 and horror tale Dream House.
