Sorry, Brad Pitt. Tough luck, Taylor Lautner. Better luck next time, you cute little dolphin with the missing tail. For the second straight week Disney’s The Lion King—a 17-year-old movie that got a 21st-century 3-D revamp—was king of the box office, too.
Simba and company collected another $22.1 million this weekend, edging the acclaimed drama Moneyball by less than 2 million taters. Moneyball, meanwhile, earned $20.6 million and barely squeaked past Dolphin Tale, the charming story of a boy and his rubbery-skinned cetacean. The latter had plenty to squeak about though, sailing into the No. 3 slot with $20.3 million. It has a shot, actually, of upending Moneyball when final figures are tabulated today, and with some strong word of mouth, this Dolphin Tale could be flipping through theaters for some time. This is a film that looks like it’s embracing its porpoise.
The top three films pretty much skunked the rest of the competition. Fourth-place Abduction managed to only take $11.2 million from moviegoers (and, having seen Abduction, I might theorize that some of those moviegoers want their money back). And Killer Elite, despite the presence of wind-up action man Jason Statham, Academy Award-winner Robert DeNiro and that Clive Owen cat, positively died at theaters, pocketing just $9.5 million.
The Lion King was supposed to have just a two-week theatrical run this time out, so unless Disney changes its mind, we’re pretty much guaranteed to see a new No. 1 next week. We’ll meet here Monday to find out what it is.
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