Endgame, Lion King may set movie records for Disney this year
LOS ANGELES The final chapter in a decade-long superhero saga and the remake of a big-screen animated classic could topple box-office records during a summer movie season expected to be dominated by Walt Disney Co.
Avengers: Endgame from Disney's Marvel Studios kicks off Hollywood's parade of potential blockbusters, with ticket sales in China hitting US$107.2 million, the highest opening-day total in the country's history.
Industry experts say the movie will likely deliver the biggest opening weekend ever in the US and Canada, where it opened yesterday.
Then in July, a new version of the animated Disney hit The Lion King has a shot at dethroning Avatar as the highest-grossing film in Hollywood history, according to box office analysts.
Possible heavy hitters include Detective Pikachu, Godzilla: King Of The Monsters, The Secret Life Of Pets 2 and Spider-Man: Far From Home. Disney's lineup is seen as the most formidable - Toy Story 4, a remake of Aladdin, Frozen 2 and Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker.
The new Lion King tells the well-known story of the plucky cub Simba through computer-generated imagery designed to look like live action. A trailer released last November generated 224.6 million views within 24 hours, a Disney record.
This time, The Lion King will play in a booming Chinese movie market that has grown to be the world's second-largest, positioning it to take in far more than the original's US$5 million in the country.- REUTERS
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