Read it and weep! The Phantom Menace is about to out-gross The Dark Knight! Or: What the onslaught on 3D reissues means for the all-time grossers list.

With just $1 million separating the two films, today or tomorrow is likely the day when one of the more reviled films in geek-ville, Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace, will surpass one of the more openly worshipped geek film in recent years, The Dark Knight, at the global box office.  As of Wednesday, Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace crossed $1 billion, becoming the eleventh film to do so and the first Star Wars film to cross said benchmark.  Obviously there is inflation and 3D price-bumps to figure, but just remember that The Phantom Menace's adjusted-for-inflation grosses from 1999 would equal about $664 million in domestic grosses alone (it earned $431 million in the summer of 1999, the second-largest grossing first-run film behind Titanic at that point).  And don't forget that a number of major fantasy films, chiefly the first three Star Wars films, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial, have had several theatrical releases since their initial respective debuts.  In the days before VHS became mainstream, it was not uncommon for popular films to show up repeatedly at a theater near you.  With the apparent consumer appeal of 3D-converted re-releases, we are seeing a return to what may be a revolving door atop the list of all-time box office champions.

Disney to unleash four 3D relaunches in 2012/2013. What do their choices mean?

I was actually going to do a post this week about which movies I think Disney should re-release next, should they decide to relaunch their 'from the vault' program that was once a mainstay of their theatrical distribution pipeline. But it seems that The Mouse House has beaten me to it.  Following the massive success of The Lion King 3D (over $80 million domestic, enough to get it over the $400 million mark), Disney is indeed going full-bore with a slate of 'classics' that will be released back into theaters with 3D conversions.  To wit, on January 13th, 2012, Disney will debut Beauty and the Beast.  This makes sense as the next release, as the 3D-conversion is already completed and it played to relatively positive notices in limited release earlier this year.

Weekend Box Office (10/02/11): Dolphin Tale tops as top-3 from last weekend remain top-3 this weekend, fending off four new releases.

 Four new releases fought for a piece of the box office pie and, with the exception of a lower-profile Christian drama playing in 1,100 screens, none of them had much bite.  The top three movies from last weekend were the top three movies this weekend as well, just in different order.  The top film of the weekend was Dolphin Tale, which actually rose two spots from its third-place debut last weekend.  More impressive than its ranking (as rankings are less important than actual numbers) is its mere 27% drop. The $37 million 'help a wounded dolphin' family drama grossed another $13.9 million and now has a ten-day cume of $37 million.    It's not a boffo figure, but the film is obviously playing well, especially in the face of the return of Simba (more on that in a minute).  And if Disney really does pull The Lion King 3D from theaters next weekend (no word yet, but the Blu Ray streets this Tuesday), it will have the family market to itself until October 28th, which is where Dreamworks moved Puss In Boots just a couple days ago (it was supposed to launch on November 4th).

Weekend Box Office (09/25/11): Moneyball scores near-record for a baseball pic, comes in second to Lion King 3D anyway.

 Defying even the most optimistic of predictions, The Lion King 3D (HERE for the film's big not-so-fatal flaw) repeated at the top of the box office this weekend.  The shockingly popular 3D-converted re-release dropped just 27% in its second weekend, grossing $21.9 million in what was allegedly the last weekend of its 'limited engagement'.  I cannot imagine Disney not keeping this one in theaters until it plays out naturally, as we could easily be looking at a $100 million domestic total for the refurbished 17-year old cartoon.  The Lion King 3D now has $61.4 million, giving the film a $390 million domestic total.  Once it gets past $67 million, it will surpass the 1997 re-release of The Empire Strikes Back and become the second-biggest re-release of all time, behind the $137 million gross of Star Wars: Special Edition.

Weekend Box Office (09/18/11): What the massive opening of The Lion King 3D really means for 3D and the popularity of the theatrical experience.

In a slightly shocking result that has several notable meanings, Disney's 3D-converted re-release of The Lion King (essay) cruised into the number one spot over the weekend with a mighty $30.1 million.  Acting as both a two-week advertisement for the October 4th Blu Ray release and a test run for possibly reviving the old 'out of the vault and back into theaters' strategy of old, the film didn't just top the box office but very nearly set a record for the Mouse House.  In the realm of Disney cartoons that are NOT Pixar releases, The Lion King 3D is actually fifth on the opening weekend list, behind Tarzan ($34 million), Chicken Little ($40 million), The Lion King ($40.8 million), and Tangled ($48 million).  It is the fifth-biggest September opening in history and came within $600,000 of besting the $30.7 million domestic gross of Disney's Toy Story/Toy Story 2 double-feature 3D re-release October, 2009.  That re-release, which was both an advertisement for the Toy Story/Toy Story 2 Blu Ray releases as well as the upcoming Toy Story 3, opened with $12.4 million despite Disney offering two shows for the price of one (IE - half the show times in a given day).  So simply taking the Toy Story 3D opening weekend and doubling it gives you around $25 million, meaning that this weekend's result was not quite as unexpected as its being reported.

The eternal problem with The Lion King: "Where's the middle?"

As most of you know, Disney is re-releasing The Lion King in 2,330 3D theaters this weekend as a two-week advertisement for the upcoming Blu Ray release.  So weak is the current crop of openers (financially, not artistically), that there is a good chance that the re-release of this 17.25 year old movie could top the weekend box office yet again.  Anyway, I come not to discuss what that means for the industry, or for the new-found trend of re-releasing old movies retrofitted with 3D, but merely to point out the big problem that I've always had with the film.  It's still pretty great overall (I watched it just under two years ago), with dynamite animation, a sober and moving story, plus terrific vocal work from what was arguably the first major animated film filled with an all-star cast of human actors.  Yes, the film's success basically caused the current trend of filling up animated features not with professional voice-over actors but with whatever A-list or B-list celebrity you can get to say yes, but I digress.  I do have few qualms here and there.  Simba's primary moral dilemma is based on a falsehood, Simba only defeats Scar because the villain stupidly confesses his sin just before his ultimate triumph, and the romantic subplot is a waste of time and space.  But overall, the film still kills as an emotional journey and a towering achievement of the 1984-1994 Disney Renaissance period.  Jeremy Irons probably should have gotten an Oscar nomination, and the Hans Zimmer score may be the best in Disney history save Alan Menkin's Hunchback of Notre Dame score.  But what I'm describing is the film's first and third acts.  What about the second act?  Well, it doesn't have one.