Ralph Breaks the Internet Wrecked It at the Box Office

It's time once again to turn on The Monitor, WIRED's roundup of the latest in the world of culture, from box-office news to release-date announcements. In today's installment: A new Ralph and a new Rocky dominate the holiday; Disney's Lion King trailer feels the love; and a premiere date for The Walking Dead comes alive.

King Ralph

The five-day Thanksgiving weekend set a new box-office record, thanks to Disney's Ralph Breaks the Internet, which earned $84.5 million—or approximately 723,383 hearts—and Creed II, the Michael B. Jordan/Sylvester Stallone boxing drama, which came in second with $55.8 million. Meanwhile, Netflix's theatrical run for Roma, one of its big Oscar hopefuls, reportedly had a promising weekend in limited release, though the streamer never releases its official box-office figures.

At the other end of the boffo box office spectrum, the latest Robin Hood adaptation, starring Taron Egerton and Jamie Foxx, opened in a disastrous seventh place for the weekend. With a budget estimated to be between $90 and $100 million, Robin Hood is now one of the poorest-grossing blockbusters of the year. There were clearly hopes the story of Robin and his merry band would launch a franchise; instead, it's turned out to be a little jawn.

I Just Can't Wait to See the King

The first trailer for Disney's highly anticipated remake (revival? reboot? rehoof?) of the animated 1994 hit The Lion King was a huge hit over the weekend, earning nearly a quarter-billion worldwide views in its first 24 hours online. Directed by Jon Favreau, the new Lion King stars Donald Glover as the voice of Simba and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter as Nala, with James Earl Jones revising his role as Mufasa. The movie opens July 19; judging by the early response, those hoping to see it opening night should be prepared for long lines.

Dead Again

AMC has set a February 10 premiere date for the second half of The Walking Dead's ninth season—which presumably won't star long-time Walking lead Andrew Lincoln, who exited the show earlier this month (but will be returning for a series of movies). The show's troubled ratings have stabilized a bit in recent weeks, proof that the zombie show can still come back from the dead. [***CELEBRATORY BALLOONS FALL FROM THE CEILING AT WIRED HQ, AS THE "WALKING DEAD BACK FROM THE DEAD" PUN IS EMPLOYED FOR THE 10,000TH TIME. CONGRATS TO ALL!***]