The Lion King (in 3D) took the number one spot at the box for the second weekend in a row and several successful new releases helped to make this past weekend the highest grossing September weekend ever.
The third release of The Lion King has now earned $61.7 million in the 10 days it’s been out. If you take the latest tally and add it to the previous two Lion King releases, the Disney movie has made $390.2 million and landed in 12th place on the highest grossing movies of all time list.
The two new movies that opened with strong showings were Moneyball and Dolphin Tale. Money Ball, starring Brad somebody and a B.M.W.L. (Before Major Weight Loss) Jonah Hill, took in an estimated $20.6 million dollars which just narrowly squeaked past Dolphin Tale to claim second place. Dolphin Tale, which I’m guessing is a tale about a dolphin, stars Harry Connick Jr. and Ashley Judd. I’m not sure which one of them is playing the dolphin. The aquatic family movie earned an estimated $20.26 million over the weekend but the final number could be higher, which would steal the number two spot from Money Ball. I’ll be watching all day to see what happens.
There were also a few new duds on the list with Abduction and Killer Elite opening to underwhelming numbers. Abduction, starring Twilight-alum, Taylor Lautner, earned an estimated $11.2 million while action-movie, Killer Elite (I’ve never even heard of this movie and I love action flicks) took in an estimated $9.5 million.
Here is the top 10 for the weekend of September 23-25, 2011:
1. The Lion King (in 3D) (BV, $22,130,000)
2. Moneyball (Sony, $20,600,000)
3. Dolphin Tale (WB, $20,260,000
4. Abduction (LGF, $11,200,000)
5. Killer Elite (ORF, $9,500,000)
6. Contagion (WB, $8,565,000)
7. Drive (2011) (FD, $5,771,000)
8. The Help (BV, $4,400,000)
9. Straw Dogs (2011) (SGem, $2,100,000)
10. I Don’t Know How She Does It (Wein., $2,053,000)
Hey, are you on Twitter? So am I! Lets follow each other @JeffMMcKinney.