Entertainment | box office The Lion King Opens With a Roar Disney film sets a couple of records By Newser Editors and Wire Services Posted Jul 21, 2019 12:15 PM CDT Copied This image released by Disney shows, from left, young Simba, voiced by JD McCrary, young Nala, voiced by Shahadi Wright Joseph, and Zazu, voiced by John Oliver, in a scene from "The Lion King." (Disney via AP) The Walt Disney Co. is ruling the box office again with the record-breaking debut of The Lion King this weekend. The studio said Sunday that the photorealistic remake devoured an estimated $185 million in ticket sales from 4,725 North American locations, the AP reports. It's a record for the month of July and PG-rated films, and the ninth-highest opening of all time. Globally, the film has already grossed $531 million. No other studio even dared to go up against The Lion King with a major release. In its third weekend, Spider-Man: Far From Home fell to second place with $21 million. Toy Story 4 took third with $14.6 million. And with an additional $1.5 million from the weekend, Avengers: Endgame has officially surpassed Avatar as the biggest film of all time with $2.79 billion. Read These Next A space capsule carrying ashes of 160 people crashed in the ocean. A lesson in minding your own business ... at 30,000 feet. The death toll in the Texas floods has risen to 27, including 9 kids. Desperate search for missing campers continues in Texas. Report an error