Disney dropped the first teaser trailer from the live action version of The Lion King on Thursday and it’s now the studio’s most-watched release.
The Lion King topped Disney, and became the #2 most-viewed trailer from any studio of all time, trailing only the debut of Avengers: Infinity War (238M views).
The Lion King builds on Disney’s success of updating and reinventing its classics for a contemporary audience. The live-action Lion King will include songs from the original animated pic.
A beloved — and lucrative — property, The Lion King was originally released in 1994 and is one of the highest-grossing animated films of all time, with a lifetime global box office of $968.8M. It won Academy Awards for Elton John and Tim Rice’s original song, “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” and Hans Zimmer’s original score. It also nabbed two Grammy Awards, with the soundtrack selling over 14M copies. In 2011, it was re-released in a 3D version which made $94M.
In 1997, the stage production made its Broadway debut, winning six Tony Awards. Nearly two decades later, it remains one of Broadway’s biggest hits alongside several other productions running around the world, including London, Hamburg, Tokyo, Madrid, Mexico City, Shanghai and North America. The 23 global productions have been seen by more than 85M people across every continent except Antarctica. The Lion King’s worldwide gross exceeds that of any film, Broadway show or other entertainment title in box office history.
If you’re one of the few who hasn’t seen it yet — click play below!