‘The Lion King’ Takes Box Office Crown

Seventeen years after its first release, “The Lion King” is again No. 1 at the box office, wildly exceeding pre-release projections by pulling in an estimated $29.3 million. A 3D re-release propelled the animated feature far beyond its expected $15 million take and well past the weekend’s three debuts – all of which had disappointing starts. The No. 2 movie of the weekend was a holdover from last week; “Contagion” grossed $14.5 million. “Drive,” which grossed an estimated $11 million, was the only new movie in the top three. The “Lion King” encore lifted the movie’s overall revenues to $357.8 million. The film passed “Finding Nemo” ($340 million) to become the third highest-grossing animated film on record. “Shrek 2” holds the title at $441 million, followed by “Toy Story 3’s” $415 million.