It seems, according to this weekend’s box office report, that audiences still aren’t tired of 1994′s Lion King, even 17 years later. The film’s re-release in 3D has made the #1 spot again in two weeks, bringing in $22 million this weekend.

That ranks the film up to over $60 million in 3D, and over $400 million combined with the film’s original domestic total from the 90s. Not too shabby for a film that ripped off a Japanese anime series from the 50s.

The rest of the weekend’s releases weren’t too shabby, either. Brad Pitt’s Moneyball, which almost didn’t get made, pulled in $20.6 million at the #2 spot, while Morgan Freeman’s adventure saving a sea mammal in Dolphin Tale came in 3rd with just over $20.2 million.

The big flops of the weekend came in the form of the #3 and #4 spots. Taylor Lautner’s attempt at being Matt Damon in Abduction brought in $11 million, which is less than a third of the film’s production budget.

All the while, the action-packed Killer Elite, which had a production budget of $70 million, only brought in $9.5. Not a good sign for the DeNiro/Statham/Owen on-screen team.

Next weekend, a few possible sleeper hits with Universal’s Dream House, cancer drama 50/50, and the romantic comedy What’s Your Number?. Who will win? We’ll find out in one week!

Here we are, the end of the summer season, well into the fall box office lull where most movies go to die. Instead of getting another historical drama or disease-based thriller, we’re getting a 3D re-release of a film that came out nearly a decade ago.

That’s right, Disney managed to pull a rabbit out of the hat in getting their 3D re-release of Lion King to open to just over $29 million this weekend, making it #1 by about a mile.

Coming in second place this weekend, Soderbergh’s Contagion took a step down, losing only 35% of last weekend’s weekend pull. The film only walked away with $14.5 million this weekend.

Also opening this weekend, the indie action flick Drive pulled in $11 million in the #3 spot, the Straw Dogs remake only made $5 million for the weekend, which is pretty low considering the True Blood bump the film had.

Next weekend, tons of potential box office surprises. Lionsgate’s Taylor Lautner vehicle, Abduction, hit theaters, as does the family flick Dolphin Tale. For the grownups, Killer Elite and Brad Pitt’s Moneyball hit theaters everywhere.

The Fourth Kind is a polarizing movie that is arriving in theaters after a clever but somewhat controversial promotional campaign. Whether you like the movie or not is largely going to depend on whether you buy into what you see on the screen. I didn’t, but I absolutely believe many people will. As actress Milla Jovovich (as herself) says in an intro to the movie: “What you believe is yours to decide.”

The unconventional film begins with Jovovich explaining there have been several people that have disappeared in Nome, Alaska, since the 60′s. She explains that she will be portraying Dr. Abigail Tyler, who has actual video footage of alien encounters. Seems that while she was placing some patients under hypnosis (for a sleep study) she uncovers some shocking truths about what has been happening to them at night, and why they are so freaked out. Conveniently, these sessions have been videotaped, which provides the “archival” footage in the film.

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