‘The Lion King’ Felt Record-Breaking Box Office Love On Its Opening Weekend

“The Lion King” was feeling the love on its opening weekend!

The Disney live-action remake made a big roar in the box office, setting the record for highest-grossing domestic opening weekend ever for an animated feature.

Bringing in $185 million in U.S. theaters and $531 million worldwide, the Disney classic surpassed analysts’ predictions (which had the domestic estimation sitting at $150 million) and just barely squeaked past “The Incredibles 2” to take the record spot.

The live-action “The Lion King” was also the biggest domestic opening for a Disney remake and Disney’s biggest non-Marvel non-Star Wars opening ever.

Whether it was the nostalgia, the impressive graphics, or Beyoncé’s influence on the Bey Hive, the film smashed its ho-hum 54% Rotten Tomatoes score by a mile.

READ: Watch Pharrell’s Hilarious Curtsy For Meghan Markle At ‘The Lion King’ Premiere

Film reviews praised the dazzling visuals and many of the voice performances provided by some of Hollywood’s biggest A-Listers including Bey, Pharrell, Billy Eichner, Seth Rogan, Donald Glover, and more.

Disney’s “Avengers: Endgame” also secured a huge win this weekend, after the film finally surpassed “Avatar’s” decade-long record to snatch the biggest-ever global box office crown.

READ: ‘Avengers: Endgame’ Surpasses ‘Avatar’ As Highest-Grossing Film Ever

After raking in these records over the weekend, officials at Disney can Hakuna Matata all week long!

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