‘The Lion King’ Rings Up Best Monday In July For Disney With $21M+, Eyes $95M Second Weekend Feast

Disney’s The Lion King chalked up the best Monday in July that Disney has ever seen with $21.6M in early estimates. That beats the previous best Monday for them which was Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest back on July 10, 2006 which minted $18.1M. This weekend, Lion King will definitely reign again with industry estimates expecting around a -50% decline for a second weekend of $95M. Sony’s Quentin Tarantino movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is pegged around the low $30Ms according to tracking, though some won’t be surprised if it winds up being the director’s best opening ever with $40M+. More on that later.

Lion King yesterday charted the second best Monday for a Disney live-action pic after Aladdin‘s Memorial Day of $25.3M. Among all Mondays in July, Lion King ranks third behind Spider-Man 2 (July 5, 2004, $27.66M) and Dark Knight (July 21, 2008, $24.4M).

Running domestic total to date for The Lion King is $213.4M. Just like the film repped director Jon Favreau’s best opening of his career with $191.77M stateside and $446.1M global, the film also be his highest grossing of his career ultimately, outstripping Jungle Book‘s $966.5M. Industry projections for Lion King‘s final domestic are between $650M-$700M.