'The Lion King' is the new Broadway box-office champ surpassing 'The Phantom of the Opera'

(photo credit: broadwaytour.net)

As Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'The Phantom of the Opera' rules the Broadway long-run chart surpassing 10,000 performances earlier this year, the mega-musical hit has had to yield one of its longtime records to Disney's New York production of 'The Lion King.'

'Lion' has now grossed $853.8 million since its opening in 1997. 'Phantom' which opened in 1998 has grossed $853.1 million since opening in 1988. With Disney's marketing strength and title recognition, 'The Lion King' weekly gross is over one million while 'Phantom' (still profitable) last topped one million over the New Year's weekend and in 2011 only reached that benchmark seven times. The recent average ticket price at 'Lion' was $155.09 while the average for 'Phantom' was $98.97. Also 'Lion' which is currently housed at the Minskoff Theatre has 1,677 seats (it moved from the 1,801-seat New Amsterdam Theatre in 2006). The Majestic Theatre where 'Phantom' is playing its 25th year holds seats for 1,605. In the Broadway performance count, 'Lion' ranks sixth and is nearing 6000 performances.

Keep in the mind that the gross for both shows is astounding considering these numbers are only for the New York production and does not include the gross from any touring or international productions or even the sales of merchandise from each show's souvenir booth.

(photo: Peter James Zielinski/BroadwayWorld)