newsmakers

newsmakers

3-D ‘Lion King’ opens in No. 1 spot

LOS ANGELES

It’s 1994 all over again, with a re-release of “The Lion King” opening at the top of the box office.

A 3-D version of the wildly popular Disney animated musical earned a surprising $29.3 million in its first weekend in theaters, according to Sunday estimates. The original film made more than $40 million when it opened nationwide 17 years ago.

This huge number stunned many people, including the folks at Disney, who figured “The Lion King” would make somewhere between $10 million and $12 million, said Dave Hollis, the studio’s executive vice president of distribution.

He said the movie remains relevant and as entertaining as it was when it first came out.

The story of a wrongly exiled lion prince (voiced by Jonathan Taylor Thomas as a cub and Matthew Broderick as an adult) who must return home to claim his throne, “The Lion King” was the second-highest-grossing film of 1994, behind “Forrest Gump.”

It ranks fourth on the all-time animated list with more than $784 million. It earned Academy Awards for Hans Zimmer’s original score and for original song for Elton John and Tim Rice’s “Can You Feel the Love Tonight.”

Last week’s No. 1 movie, Steven Soderbergh’s “Contagion,” dropped a spot in its second weekend. The Warner Bros. viral thriller made about $14.5 million for a total of $44.2 million.

Among the other new releases, the critical darling “Drive” came in at No. 3 with just over $11 million. Ryan Gosling stars as a stoic wheelman in the retro action picture from FilmDistrict.

Princess Kate looking at UK charity work

LONDON

Newly minted royal Kate Middleton is on the hunt — no, not for foxes but for her own charity gig.

St. James’s Palace on Sunday confirmed that Kate — now formally known as Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge — is spending the next few months exploring the charitable sector as she mulls what to make of her position at the top of British society. The move shows that Princess Kate is following a family tradition championed by the late Princess Diana, her mother-in-law.

The idea is “to get to know a number of charitable and other causes better, so she can make well-informed decisions about her future role,” her spokesman said, declining to elaborate. “The duchess plans to meet a wide range of people and make private visits.”

He spoke on condition of anonymity, as required by palace policy.

Lovato to young girls with issues: Seek help

NEW YORK

Singer Demi Lovato thanked her fans at a concert for supporting her after she entered rehab last year and encouraged young girls to seek help if they are dealing with similar problems.

“A year ago today ... I was not in a good place,” the 19-year-old said at her concert Saturday night. “I needed help, and I want anybody in this audience to know that if you’re struggling with one of the issues that I dealt with or a different issue, that you can get help, that you can recover and it’s possible if you just tell someone.”

Lovato entered a treatment facility for three months last year to deal with “emotional and physical issues.” The singer- actress said that as an 8-year-old who faced bullying, she had an eating disorder and later started cutting her wrists to vent her despair.

She performed a show at New York’s Hammerstein ballroom, just days ahead of the release of her third album, “Unbroken.”

Associated Press