'The Lion King' smashed July opening records with $185 million in first weekend

• Disney's "The Lion King" has a record-breaking opening with $185 million at the domestic box office.
• That passes 2011's "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" to become the biggest July opening ever.
• It's the latest example of Disney's box office dominance as Disney/Marvel's "Avengers: Endgame" surpassed "Avatar" to become the biggest movie of all time globally.
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A Disney movie has once again given a record-breaking performance in its opening weekend in theaters.

Jon Favreau's breathtaking photorealistic remake of Disney's 1994 animated movie "The Lion King" brought in an estimated $185 million at the domestic box office over the weekend. That makes it the biggest opening ever in July, as it surpasses the $169.1 million 2011's "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" took in.

After starting its international run last week with an opening in China, the movie now has a global total of $531 million.

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In an astounding feat, Disney now has five of the top six biggest openings of the year, with Sony's "Spider-Man: Far From Home" the only movie in that group that isn't from the Mouse House (though "Far From Home" is in association with Disney's Marvel Studio, so the studio does get an assist).

"The Lion King" has polarized moviegoers and critics. Though it has a 55% rating by critics on Rotten Tomatoes, it has an 89% score from the site's verified audiences. It mirrors the May release of the studio's live-action remake of "Aladdin," which has a 56% critic rating and 94% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The split between critics and audiences shows that viewers can't stay away from what Disney has to offer, that success has proven sustainable for Disney movies released throughout this year.

Both "Aladdin" and "Toy Story 4" have stayed in the top 10 at the domestic box office while in theaters, and "Captain Marvel" spent 10 weeks in the top 10 after opening in March. "Captain Marvel" has already grossed the $1 billion worldwide mark and "Aladdin" is expected to hit the milestone in the coming weeks.

Then there's the performance by "Avengers: Endgame." After getting a rerelease, the movie on Sunday passed the $2.789 billion "Avatar" earned (that includes the rereleases the James Cameron movie has had in past years) to become the highest-grossing movie globally of all time. "Endgame" now has a global total of $2.790 billion.