Editing The Lion King (section)

====Original theatrical run====
During the first two days of limited release in two theaters, ''The Lion King'' grossed $622,277, and for the weekend it earned nearly $1.6 million, placing the film in tenth place at the box office.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-06-20-ca-6420-story.html|title='Wolf,' 'Lion King' Grab the Movie-Goers|work=Los Angeles Times|date=June 20, 1994|author=Natale, Richard|access-date=April 5, 2014|archive-date=March 4, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140304054050/http://articles.latimes.com/1994-06-20/entertainment/ca-6420_1_lion-king|url-status=live}}</ref> The average of $793,377 per theater stands as the largest ever achieved during a weekend,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/weekends/theateravg.htm?page=THTRAVG&p=.htm|title=Top Weekend Theater Averages|website=Box Office Mojo|access-date=September 26, 2011|archive-date=September 19, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110919155141/http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/weekends/theateravg.htm?page=THTRAVG&p=.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> and it was the highest-grossing opening weekend on under 50 screens, beating the record set by ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'' (1977) from 43 screens.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Daily Variety]]|date=September 20, 1994|page=24|title=All-Time Opening Weekends: 50 Screens or Less}}</ref> The film grossed nearly $3.8 million from the two theaters in just 10 days.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Domestic Box Office|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=June 27, 1994|page=10}}</ref>

When it opened wide, ''The Lion King'' grossed $40.9 million—which at the time was the fourth biggest opening weekend ever and the highest sum for a Disney film—to top the weekend box office. It displaced the previous box office champion ''[[Wolf (1994 film)|Wolf]]'', while also topping ''[[Speed (1994 film)|Speed]]'' and ''[[Wyatt Earp (film)|Wyatt Earp]]''.<ref name="maneattraction" /><ref>{{cite news |title='Lion King' rules nation's box office |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1994/06/27/Lion-King-rules-nations-box-office/8015772689600/ |access-date=February 13, 2022 |work=[[United Press International]] |date=June 27, 1994 |archive-date=February 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220213141317/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1994/06/27/Lion-King-rules-nations-box-office/8015772689600/ |url-status=live}}</ref> At that time, it easily outgrossed the previous biggest 1994 opening, which was the $37.2 million earned by ''[[The Flintstones (film)|The Flintstones]]'' during the four-day [[Memorial Day]] weekend. The film also produced the third-highest opening weekend gross of any film, trailing only behind ''[[Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park]]'' (1993) and ''[[Batman Returns]]'' (1992).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1994-06-28-9406280249-story.html|title='Lion King' Opening with Box Office Roar|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=June 28, 1994|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125151611/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1994-06-28-9406280249-story.html|archive-date=January 25, 2022|url-status=live}}</ref> For five years, the film held the record for having the highest opening weekend for an animated film until it was surpassed by ''[[Toy Story 2]]'' (1999).<ref>{{cite news |last=Lyman |first=Rick |title=Those Toys Are Leaders In Box-Office Stampede |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/29/movies/those-toys-are-leaders-in-box-office-stampede.html |access-date=March 25, 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=November 29, 1999 |archive-date=March 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319232310/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/29/movies/those-toys-are-leaders-in-box-office-stampede.html |url-status=live}}</ref> For its second weekend, ''The Lion King'' collected a total of $34.2 million, outgrossing the openings of ''[[The Shadow (1994 film)|The Shadow]]'', ''[[Blown Away (1994 film)|Blown Away]]'' and ''[[I Love Trouble (1994 film)|I Love Trouble]]''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer-lion-king-ex/158027387/ |title='Lion King' extends its rule |date=July 7, 1994 |access-date=October 29, 2024  |page=40 |publisher=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] }}</ref> It remained the number-one box office film for a total of two weeks until it was displaced by ''[[Forrest Gump]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-07-08-ca-13380-story.html|title='Forrest Gump' Off to Fast Start at Box Office|website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=July 8, 1994 }}</ref> followed by ''[[True Lies]]'' the week after.<ref name="Powerhouse">{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-07-18-ca-17141-story.html|title=Powerhouses Fuel Sales at Box Office|date=July 18, 1994|work=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|url-status=live|archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20100726023014/http://articles.latimes.com/1994-07-18/entertainment/ca-17141_1_true-lies|archive-date=July 26, 2010|access-date=October 24, 2019}}</ref>

In September 1994, Disney pulled the film from movie theaters and announced that it would be re-released during [[Thanksgiving (United States)|Thanksgiving]] in order to take advantage of the holiday season.<ref>{{cite news|last=Hofmeister|first=Sally|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/08/13/business/disney-to-put-lion-king-into-early-hibernation.html|title=Disney to Put 'Lion King' Into Early Hibernation|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=August 13, 1994|access-date=July 18, 2019|archive-date=July 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719002134/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/08/13/business/disney-to-put-lion-king-into-early-hibernation.html|url-status=live|url-access=limited}}</ref> At the time, the film had earned $267 million in the United States.<ref name="mojo" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Boyar |first=Jay |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1994-11-18-9411170228-story.html |title=Disney's 'Lion King' Returns For Another Reign At Theaters |work=Orlando Sentinel |date=November 18, 1994 |access-date=October 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015200752/http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1994-11-18/entertainment/9411170228_1_simba-lion-king-mufasa |archive-date=October 15, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> Upon its re-release in November 1994, it earned $5.5 million during its first weekend, ranking in fourth place behind ''[[Star Trek Generations]]'', ''[[Interview with the Vampire (film)|Interview with the Vampire]]'' and ''[[The Santa Clause]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-11-22-ca-165-story.html|title=Weekend Box Office : Appealing to All 'Generations'|website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=November 22, 1994 }}</ref> Following its re-release, by March 1995, it had grossed $312.9 million,<ref name="mojo"/> being the highest-grossing 1994 film in the United States and Canada, but was soon surpassed by ''Forrest Gump''.<ref name="movies">{{cite web|url=http://movies.go.com/boxoffice?cat=1994|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080326022707/http://movies.go.com/boxoffice?cat=1994|archive-date=March 26, 2008 |title=Top 50 movies of 1994|website=[[Movies.com]]|access-date=March 17, 2009}}</ref> [[Box Office Mojo]] estimates that the film sold over 74 million tickets in the US in its initial theatrical run,<ref>{{cite web|access-date=May 31, 2016|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=lionking.htm&adjust_yr=1&p=.htm|title=The Lion King (1994)|website=Box Office Mojo|archive-date=August 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160804215905/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=lionking.htm&adjust_yr=1&p=.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> equivalent to $812.1 million adjusted for inflation in 2018.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Lion King (1994) – Domestic Total Adj. Gross (2018) |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=lionking.htm&adjust_yr=2018&p=.htm |website=Box Office Mojo |access-date=22 June 2019 |archive-date=December 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201235112/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl3730736641/weekend/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Internationally, the film grossed $455.8 million during its initial run, for a worldwide total of $763.5 million.<ref name="lion-initial" /> It had record openings in Sweden and Denmark.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=November 28, 1994|page=17|title='King' breaks records in Euro bows|last=Groves|first=Don}}</ref>