3D Lion King feels the love

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 animated Disney favourite earned a surprising $29.3m in its first weekend in theatres, according to Sunday estimates.

The original film made more than $40m when it opened nationwide 17 years ago.

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

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