Disney’s The Lion King stampeded into theaters this weekend with a $191.8 million debut, even higher than industry expectations. The picture immediately leaps to no. 6 on the 2019 domestic chart and sets opening weekend records for July and for PG-rated movies- Box Office Mojo

In the context of this monstrous debut, a look back on how much of a risk the original Lion King was in 1994- The New York Times

So, is the new Lion King live-action? No. No it is not- The Los Angeles Times

As with many blockbusters that play on American nostalgia, The Lion King did not do nearly as well in China, where it was upstaged by the Mandarin-language Looking Up- The Hollywood Reporter

That said, it had already collected $100 million overseas before this weekend even started- The Hollywood Reporter

As The Lion King set July records, Avengers: Endgame set the all time record, finally passing Avatar as the highest grossing film of all time last weekend- The Hollywood Reporter 

Endgame is the sixth billion-dollar smash that Robert Downey Jr. starred in as Tony Stark. Reflecting on Downey’s controversial casting 11 years ago as Endgame gears up for its home media release Aug. 13- Screenrant

It’s generally thought that the MCU is going to lean more heavily into skrull storylines in the near future, and apparently, nothing is off the table as far as that goes- Indiewire

But the week’s biggest news came out of San Diego Comic Con, which has become the annual mecca for major media announcements. A roundup- Empire

Comic Con is also a hotbed for new trailer releases. Some of the biggest drops of the convention- Uproxx

Marvel announced its Phase 4 projects, which included a standalone Black Widow movie and Thor: Love and Thunder- The New York Times

The much-ballyhooed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was absent from the proceedings. This is essentially just a confirmation that the movie will be delayed while writer/director James Gunn works on the new Suicide Squad movie for the DCEU. Gunn committed to Suicide Squad after being fired from Vol. 3 over questionable tweets from 10 years ago, only to be rehired a few months later when Disney realized no one really cares about dumb tweets- CBR

DCEU fans, which apparently still exist, crowdfunded billboards surrounding the San Diego Comic-Con urging Warner Bros. to release the Zack Snyder cut of Justice League, a theoretical three-and-a-half hour cut of the film more in line with Snyder’s original vision. Snyder stepped down as director midway through production of Justice League to grieve his daughter’s untimely death, which paved the way for Warner Bros. to change direction mid-production, something they’d almost certainly wanted to do anyway. They hired hJoss Whedon to rewrite the movie and finish production. After that, Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara, who has since left the company amid accusations of sexual impropriety, mandated that the final cut be less than two hours, which prompted even more last-minute rearrangement. A “Snyder cut” of the film almost certainly does not exist, but even if it did, Warner Bros. has decided to skip this year’s comic con- Indiewire

Set to make their first public appearance after the final season of Game of Thrones was met with intense negative reaction from fans and critics, showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss cancelled their appearance on the show’s Comic-Con panel. The panel was scheduled for Friday, and the cancellation was announced via Twitter on Wednesday. Their appearance on the panel was set to be one of the biggest news items of the convention. Weiss and Benioff are in charge of a Star Wars trilogy, the first installment of which is expected for 2022- Indiewire

An absolutely horrifying trailer for an adaptation of the Cats musical dropped over the weekend, terrifying viewers around the world- Indiewire

“Where were you when the Cats trailer dropped will be the JFK assassination of this generation-” Billboard

Even “furries,” people who dress up as animals for sexual reasons, were turned off by the trailer- Slate

The first Alamo Drafthouse is finally opening in Los Angeles this week, just in time for Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood to hit theaters- Indiewire

With his ninth film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood hitting theaters this weekend, living legend writer/director Quentin Tarantino is insisting on sticking to his 10-movie limit, and saying that his next movie will be his last. Tarantino has written a script for a rated-R Star Trek film, but is uncertain if he wants to direct it- Indiewire

Tarantino talks to Deadline about getting his dream cast and reminiscing on 1969 Hollywood- Deadline

Margot Robbie’s Sharon Tate will have more lines in the theatrical cut than she did at Cannes. A journalist drew Tarantino’s ire at the festival asking why Tate spoke so little- Indiewire

While MoviePass may have burned out, the market it established for movie ticket subscription services isn’t going anywhere. Both AMC and Cinemark are reporting success with their services, and Regal Cinemas will be establishing a subscription of its own soon- Variety

Netflix stock plummeted last week when the streaming giant announced it had lost 126,000 paid subscribers in Q2. It’s their first reported subscriber loss in 12 years- The New York Times

Despite political turmoil, the film industry in Ukraine is expanding rapidly- Screen International

From the other side of Crimea, Alexander Sokurov, Russian film director and prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin, is shutting down his independent film foundation, citing pressure from the culture ministry- The Hollywood Reporter

After his 2016 hit The Witch was endorsed by the Satanic Temple in a publicity stunt, writer/director Robert Eggers apparently had to personally convince the Polish film industry that he was not a Satanist- Indiewire

And finally, why Josie and the Pussycats is the best movie of all time- 

Leopold Knopp is a UNT graduate. If you liked this post, you can donate to Reel Entropy here. Like Reel Entropy on Facebook and reach out to me at reelentropy@gmail.com.