While professional critics wound up being very mixed on the movie, leaving it with a ‘Rotten’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, audiences are loving it.
Just like Guy Ritchie’s Aladdin (which you’ll notice is still holding on to seventh place), the film has been given an “A” rating on CinemaScore, and that sentiment alone should result in a solid buzz that leaves the release with strong legs.
It’s worth mentioning at this point that this year has been stock full of big releases that have dropped precipitously in their second weekends, but people definitely shouldn’t expect The Lion King to be included among those titles.
It certainly helps that we’re coming up on what is generally one of the worst months of the year for Hollywood – though David Leitch’s Hobbs and Shaw will be a bit of a distraction when it comes out early next month.