October Derby

Now with money-filled Add On.

Late to the party with this, but I'm only just back in town.

Lion king hangs in:

Alcon Entertainment and Warner Bros.’ family pic Dolphin Tale is headed for first place in its second weekend with $15 million, followed by fellow holdovers Moneyball and The Lion King ...

The tally chart, as per the Nikkster:

1. Moneyball (Sony) Week 2 [2,993 Theaters] Friday $3.8M (-43%), Estimated Weekend $13.5M, Estimated Cume $39M

2. Dolphin Tale (Alcon, Warner Bros) Week 2 [3,515 Theaters] Friday $3.4M (-33%), Estimated Weekend $15M, Estimated Cume $39M

3. Lion King 3D (Disney) Week 3 [2,340 Theaters] Friday $3.3M, Estimated Weekend $12M, Estimated Cume $80.6M

4. Courageous (Sony) NEW [1,161 Theaters] Friday $3.1M, Estimated Weekend $9M

5. Dream House (Universal) NEW [2,661 Theaters] Friday $2.9M, Estimated Weekend $7.8M

Eighty million dolars for a seventeen-year-old film isn't too bad, particularly when it's had a bit of exposure in the home video markets. ...

Add On: The Reporter points out that LK is now in the Top Ten of Up There Motion pictures.

Lion King ended Sunday with a total domestic cume of $408.2 million, besting the $403.7 million earned by Sony's Spider Man and the $402.1 million earned by Paramount's sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

The re-release of Lion King itself has earned $79.7 million, beating all expectations. Overseas, where it is still rolling out, it has grossed $19 million for a worldwide total of $98.7 million.

We'll point out that Lion King earned the first big block of money seventeen years ago, when ticket prices were lower. But this new burst of turnstile twirling has no doubt inspired the Mouse to mine the vaults. We'll likely be seeing Pinocchio: The Nose in 3-D before the decade is done.