"The Lion King" is back on top of the movie jungle seventeen years after the film first hit theaters. A 3-D version of the 1994 Walt Disney Co animated classic reclaimed the box office throne with a strong 29.3 million dollars (USD) in domestic ticket sales over the weekend.
The three-day total for North American (U.S. and Canadian) theaters was more than double studio forecasts and easily pushed thriller "Contagion," last weekend's winner, to second place.
The Steven Soderbergh-directed film about the race to stop a deadly virus as it circles the globe, finished second with $14.5 million. The movie's sales dropped 35 percent from a week earlier.
The action flick "Drive," starring Ryan Gosling, performed best among other new releases. The story of a Hollywood stunt performer who drives a getaway car for criminal landed third with 11 million domestically, hitting the low end of the studio's expectations.
The film won strong reviews from critics and appealed to young males as well as "older and upscale audiences."
Fourth place went to "The Help," a drama about the relationships between white women and black maids in civil rights-era Mississippi, with 6.4 million. The domestic tally since the critics favorite opened six weeks ago reached over 147 million, far exceeding early expectations.
Two newcomers struggled to draw audiences. The thriller "Straw Dogs," about a Hollywood screenwriter who finds trouble after relocating to his wife's hometown, landed in fifth place with 5 million.
While the romantic comedy "I Don't Know How She Does It," starring Sarah Jessica Parker, finished sixth with a disappointing 4.5 million domestically.
John Russell, Reuters.
