est. 1994
The Lion King
began as a film
$15.9Bestimated lifetime revenue
Experience EngineLive experiences make up 51% of the revenue we could break down. We use this label at 30% or more.
- Retail & merch19%
- Box office21%
- Home video & streaming9.4%
- Experiences51%
No. 23 of 99, ranked by estimated lifetime revenue
What we know
Sources checked to
- Estimated lifetime revenue
- $15.9BMoney taken in before costs. This is not profit or company value.
- Biggest source of revenue
- Experiences 51%of the revenue we can break down
- Verified rights holder
- The Walt Disney Company
- Where it began
- 1994 · a film
- How sure is this estimate?
- Solid estimateThe sources are strong across all five checks.
Solid estimatefive checks; the lowest score sets the rating
- Where the number comes from
- scored 2 out of 4
- What the number measures
- scored 3 out of 4
- How recent the estimate is
- scored 4 out of 4
- How much of the total is itemised
- scored 4 out of 4
- Double-counting risk
- scored 4 out of 4
Rights and ownership
Verified current rights holder: The Walt Disney Company
Holds master franchise control.
See all verified rights (1)
| Right | Holder | Territory | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| Master franchise control | The Walt Disney Company | Worldwide | 1994 |
How the money mix changed
began as a film, 1994
Box office
biggest revenue source in this data
Experiences
79% of the revenue we can break down now comes from outside box office
More ways to compare it
We calculate these numbers from the records above. The formulas are on the Receipts page. If the data is not strong enough, we leave a number out.
- Share from merchandise
- 19%
- How varied the revenue is
- 58 / 100
- Revenue beyond where it started
- 79%
- Average revenue per year
- $497M per year
- lifetime average, not the current yearly rate
- Online interest compared with revenue
- not shown: search-interest data was unavailable at snapshot time
Sources and calculationsshow detailshide details
| Channel | Value | Share | Confidence | Source | Checked on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail & merch | $3B | 19% | solid estimate | List of highest-grossing media franchises — Wikipedia | 2026-09-03 |
| Box office | $3.35B | 21% | solid estimate | List of highest-grossing media franchises — Wikipedia | 2026-09-03 |
| Home video & streaming | $1.5B | 9.4% | solid estimate | List of highest-grossing media franchises — Wikipedia | 2026-09-03 |
| Experiences | $8.1B | 51% | solid estimate | List of highest-grossing media franchises — Wikipedia | 2026-09-03 |
| Total | $15.9B | 100% |
estimated lifetime revenue · checked 2026-09-03