The Lion King proves a favourite musical with cinema and theatregoers

The Lion King has been named the UK’s favourite big screen blockbuster, turned stage musical…

In a survey, conducted by Showcase Cinemas, the 1994 family favourite The Lion King come out on top with 24% of the vote, narrowly beating out competition from 70s classic Grease(21%) and The Sound of Music (20%), starring Julie Andrews.

ABBA jukebox musical Mamma Mia! took 19% of the vote, while another Julie Andrews classic, Mary Poppins (16%) also landed among the top five. The study was carried out ahead of the highly anticipated release of stage musical turned blockbuster Wicked, which hits Showcase Cinemas nationwide tomorrow (November 22^nd.)

The film, adapted from the musical, details the relationship between Elphaba Thropp (Cynthia Erivo), who later becomes the Wicked Witch of the West and Galinda Upland (Ariana Grande), who later becomes Glinda the Good Witch of the North.

Elsewhere, the results found ‘Dancing Queen’, from Mamma Mia! (13%) to be the nation’s favourite song from a big screen blockbuster/stage musical, with Les Misérables ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ (9%) and ‘The Music of the Night’ from The Phantom of the Opera (8%) rounding out the top three.

Jon Dixon, UK Marketing Director at Showcase Cinemas:

“We can’t wait to see the magic of Wicked finally brought to life from the stage to the big screen. Our survey revealed more than four in ten say musicals are their favourite type of film, which equates to more than 28 million of us, so we’re expecting Wicked to be hugely popular. With a whole host of Wicked fans already in the UK, and ‘Defying Gravity’ named the favourite song from the stage musical, we’re looking forward to welcoming customers for what is shaping up to be the cinematic event of the year!” 

TOP TEN BLOCKBUSTERS THAT ARE ALSO STAGE MUSICALS: 

1. THE LION KING (24%)
2. GREASE (21%)
3. THE SOUND OF MUSIC (20%)
4. MAMMA MIA! (19%)
5. MARY POPPINS (16%)
6. LES MISERABLES (15%)
7. THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (14%)
8. BACK TO THE FUTURE (13%)
9. MATILDA (12%)
10. THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (11%)

TOP FIVE SONGS FROM WICKED: 

1. DEFYING GRAVITY (12%)
2. AS LONG AS YOU’RE MINE (10%)
3. FOR GOOD (8%)
4. THE WIZARD AND I (7%)
5. WONDERFUL (5%)

Showcase Cinemas research based on a survey of 2000 respondents undertaken in October 2024