Busy weekend at the multiplex, and whaddya know – the king of the jungle is also king at the box office. Even though it’s almost 20 years old, The Lion King 3D managed to top all the new releases this past weekend with $30 million, thanks to it being a Disney favorite, as well as arriving in 3D (meaning higher ticket prices). Congrats go out to you and me since we both predicted The Lion King’s win, which kinda says something about what audiences want from Hollywood if a 20-year-old cartoon is beating all the latest new releases, right?
Contagion ($14.5 million) snagged second from Drive ($11.3 million), while new releases Straw Dogs ($5.12 million) and I Don’t Know How She Does It ($4.4 million) came in fifth and sixth, respectively. All in all a fairly weak, er, week, but maybe that’ll change when Taylor Lautner abducts this week’s box office with his thriller Abduction.
Hard to knock a good film like The Lion King for winning the weekend, but a lot of critics were surprised Drive didn’t do better than it did. The film won lots of praise, and it’s hard to turn down the smooth and stylin’ Ryan Gosling behind the wheel of a getaway car. So what gives? Did you see it? If not, why?
The critics got their chance to share their opinions, so now it’s your turn. Sound off below in our poll and in the comments with your thoughts on this week’s new movies …
