Lion King Chases Off Kaira Pitt To Stay No. 1

La, Calif. -- Kaira Pitt was not able to place the kitty from to begin with in the weekend box office. Wally Disneys The Lion King reissue wasn't any. 1 for that second-straight weekend with $22.a million, based on studio estimations Sunday. That puts it simply in front of Pitts baseball drama Moneyball, a The new sony Pictures release that opened up at No. 2 with $20.six million. Debuting carefully behind at No. 3 was the Warner Bros. family film Dolphin Tale with $20.3 million. Dolphin Tale stars Harry Connick Junior., Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman. The Three-D reissue of 1994s The Lion King has had in $61.7 million since opening the prior weekend to some larger audience than expected. Thats on the top of nearly $800 million worldwide the film produced in its original run along with a 2002 re-release. The film has been doing so well that Disney intends to let it rest in theaters more than the 2-week run the studio initially planned like a prelude to its Blu-ray home-video debut March. 4, stated Dork Hollis, Disneys mind of distribution. The studio has not made the decision how lengthy or how broadly the film would play theatrically following the Blu-ray release, Hollis stated. Customers I believe will gladly consume it in multiple methods of this type of franchise, because they have going back 17 years, Hollis stated. The Lion King organized well despite a hurry of 4 new wide releases a few days ago. Twilight co-star Taylor Lautners action tale Abduction opened up at No. 4 with $11.two million. The Lionsgate release casts Lautner like a teen hurtled into an enormous amount of espionage because he attempts to identify the mystery of his past. Another action thriller, Open Road Films Killer Elite, first showed at No. 5 with $9.5 million. The film stars Jason Statham, Robert P Niro and Clive Owen as special-operations assassins swept up inside a global revenge plan. Moneyball stars Pitt as Concord As gm Billy Beane, who shook in the baseball world when his tight budget forced him to search for new methods to scout gamers. Jonah Hill co-stars being an economist who helps turn the As right into a contender using record techniques that identify underrated sports athletes. With good reviews and Oscars buzz for Pitt and the Moneyball teammates, The new sony hopes the film will hang in there in theaters well in to the fall. It had been a good start for any film that looked dead within the water after The new sony benched an earlier version of Moneyball just days before shooting ended up being to begin in 2009. That version could have been produced by Pitts friend Steven Soderbergh, who directed him within the Oceans Eleven movies. But The new sony drawn the connect a squabble with Soderbergh within the script. Soderbergh departed, but Pitt tied to it, going to bring Michael Lewis best-seller Moneyball: The skill of Winning an Unfair Game towards the screen. A lot of it worked using the number-crushing sabermetrics system Beane adopted. To create the drama, The new sony hired Aaron Sorkin, an Oscar champion for his script around the Social Networking, to change a script whose previous scribes incorporated Steven Zaillian, an Oscar champion for Schindlers List. Bennett Burns, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker behind Capote, was introduced directly into direct. Pitt is also a producer around the film. It wasnt the simplest code to hack. You'd this excellent book, but to translate it wasnt always the simplest factor, stated Rory Bruer, Sonys mind of distribution. You actually needed individuals who supported it, like Kaira, and authors who understood it, along with a director making it something very visual and compelling for those to determine. Dolphin Tale handled a good start despite unpredicted competition to see relatives audiences in the Lion King. With different true story, Dolphin Tale focuses on several other people who get together in order to save an hurt dolphin. The Lion King, 'Moneyball and Dolphin Tale handled an uncommon task for typically quiet September, all finishing above $20 million for that weekend. Hollywoods overall revenues arrived at $122 million, up 21 percent in the same weekend this past year, when Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps brought with $19 million, based on box-office tracker Hollywood.com. This is among the most powerful September weekends Ive seen, stated Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian. Lion King got people within the mood to return to movies, particularly the family audience, and check out the mixture of that certain and Dolphin Tale. It implies that family audiences are prepared to visit the movies be it summer time or fall. Believed ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, based on Hollywood.com. Where available, latest worldwide amounts will also be incorporated. Final domestic figures is going to be launched Monday. 1. The Lion King, $22.a million ($1.9 million worldwide). 2. Moneyball, $20.six million. 3. Dolphin Tale, $20.3 million. 4. Abduction, $11.two million. 5. Killer Elite, $9.5 million. 6. Contagion, $8.six million. 7. Drive, $5.8 million. 8. The Assistance, $4.4 million ($1.a million worldwide). 9. Hay Dogs, $2.a million. 10. I Have No Idea How She Will It, $2.05 million. Copyright 2011 by Connected Press. All privileges reserved.These components might not be released, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.