Movies called The Lion King routinely make gargantuan sums of money, and this month's photorealistic revival is no exception. For longtime followers of star Donald Glover, that growing haul is of particular interest when viewed in the context of his entire filmography, with the latest Lion estimates—$713.6 million worldwide—providing enough of a boost to put him in the 3 Billion Dollars Club.
A decade ago, Glover and his Derrick Comedy collaborators premiered their Mystery Team movie at the Sundance Film Festival. The comedy, which expanded on the humor found in their previous run of online shorts, ultimately earned roughly $90,000 at the box office. From there, Glover's status in multiple mediums—film, TV, music—continued to graduate to new levels.
By 2015, Glover had several high-profile blockbusters (The Martian, Magic Mike XXL) and a Muppets cameo in the bag, though it was his 2017-2019 film run that's pushed him even further into the upper echelons of multi-hyphenate respect.
The Lion King's predictably massive Box Office Mojoestimates arrives after a similarly strong showing from Spider-Man: Homecoming, in which he had a small part in the role of Aaron Davis, and the critically maligned but financially not-a-total-dud Solo: A Star Wars Story.
As it stands now, Lion's total places the DG filmography's worldwide haul at an estimated $3.048 billion.
While what's next for Glover in terms of cinema isn't yet public knowledge, we do know that another chapter of his critically adored FX series Atlanta should be coming together soon, not to mention we'll surely be getting some visuals connected with his next musical chapter.
