Box Office: Lion Remains King

Disney's The Lion King reached the $400 million milestone in the domestic box office yesterday after attracting $3.3 million on the 15th day of its re-release in 3D. That is good for 12th in the all-time domestic list and should easily end in 10th place after the weekend ahead of Spider-Man and the second Transformers film. Too bad that's probably where it'll stay as it's expected to leave theaters before it's Blu-Ray launch this upcoming Tuesday. If kept in theaters for a regular run, it would've certainly passed Toy Story 3 to become the highest-grossing Disney animated film of all time (unadjusted of course).

For my part, I saw the film last weekend making it only the third film I've seen in 3D (Avatar and Up were the other two films). It was probably a no-brainer for Disney to convert this film in 3D and re-release it as it's one of their most popular films and they probably thought that the vast Africa visage would lend itself to the technology. They were right and more importantly, the conversion was damn good. I gasped at the same time as my fellow theater-goers when Zazu made his first sweep across the screen flying towards Pride Rock in the distance. And really, 3D was icing to what was already a delicious cake. I teared up, laughed, and sang in all the usual places I used to (though I "got" more jokes now that I'm older) and clapped in the end with the rest of the audience. It was a very fun and quite nostalgic experience. That probably explains why it topped the box office for the past two weeks and should finish in the top 3 this weekend.

Back to the all-time chart, it looks likely for the final Harry Potter film to take over Star Wars: Episode III for that 13th spot. I think WB will push it and there's even a rumor of a re-release during Oscars season, so it's probably a locked to do so.