Once Upon a Time Gives Tarantino His Best Opening, But Can't Beat The Lion King

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood took in a Quentin Tarantino career best $40.3 million opening this weekend. However, it was not enough to take down Disney’s Lion King reboot to win this weekend’s number one spot at the box office. Still, number two is a great spot when sandwiched between Disney and Marvel. In addition to being a win for Tarantino, the debut is also being hailed as a win for original movies at the box office. So far, the reviews have mostly been positive for the director’s R-rated look at the golden age of Hollywood and things are only getting better.

The Lion King remake made nearly double what Once Upon a Time in Hollywood did, taking in $75.5 million which was easily enough to take the number one spot for the second weekend in a row. Disney’s remakes have the ability to make some serious money at the box office even as some critics and fans voice their adverse opinions. Spider-Man: Far from Home took the third spot this weekend after earning $12.2 million. The Sony and Marvel Studios partnership just crossed the $1 billion threshold and is well on its way to becoming Sony’s highest grossing movie ever.

Toy Story 4 fell to number four at the box office this weekend after bringing in $9.8 million. To date, the animated sequel has made $917.9 million globally since hitting theaters in late June and could end up joining the $1 billion club before the summer has come to a close. Horror thriller Crawl took the fifth position, earning $4 million. The movie has made an impressive $45.8 million in only two weeks in theaters, thanks in part to positive word of mouth advertising.

Related: How Tarantino Dealt with Roman Polanski in Making Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Number six this weekend goes to Danny Boyle’s Yesterday, which brought in $3 million. The movie, which imagines a world where the Beatles never existed, has been a steady earner since hitting theaters at the end of June, amassing over $100 million globally. As for number seven, that goes to another Disney remake. Aladdin took in an additional $2.7 million after crossing the $1 billion threshold earlier in the week. If all goes well, The Lion King will end up doing the same thing, but a lot quicker.

Stuber ended up in the eight spot over the weekend after earning $1.6 million. The buddy cop movie stars Kumail Nanjiani and Dave Bautista and has made over $23 million to date. Elsewhere, horror sequel Annabelle Comes Home took the ninth spot with $1.56 million, while The Farewell took the tenth spot with $1.55 million. Avengers: Endgame fell to number 12 after becoming the highest grossing movie of all time last weekend. You can check out the rest of this weekend’s numbers over at Box Office Mojo.

Topics: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Box Office, The Lion King