The success of the remake of The Lion King has earned Beyoncé membership in an exclusive club – music stars whose movies have grossed more than a billion dollars.
Queen Bey voices Nala in the flick, which earned $595 million (all figures U.S.) in its first week of release. This brings her total box office haul to just under $1.6 billion… and growing.
Beyoncé previously starred in movies like Austin Powers in Goldmember ($296.7 million) and Dreamgirls ($154.9 million) and voiced a character in Epic ($268.4 million).
She's now one of a relatively small group of music stars have topped $1 billion at the global box office. Below is a list of 10, compiled using data from BoxOfficeMojo.com that includes films in which the artists had more than a cameo role as well as animated films in which they voiced characters.
We did not count music stars who are no longer with us (i.e. Whitney Houston, whose films made $517 million) or those who were acting before they released their first music (i.e. Janet Jackson, Jennifer Lopez). And, at risk of being accused of ageism, we excluded stars like Barbra Streisand and Cher who had significant head-starts in the movie business.
1. Will Smith ($8.6 billion)
Smith was one-half of DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince for a few years before he got into acting. His box office total includes blockbusters like Aladdin ($817.4 million so far), Independence Day ($817.4 million), and the Toronto-shot Suicide Squad ($746.8 million).
2. Mark Wahlberg ($6.3 billion)
Before acting, Wahlberg was briefly a member of New Kids on the Block and then formed Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, which had the hit “Good Vibrations” in 1991. His combined haul got a big boost from a pair of Transformers movies that did a combined $1.7 billion as well as hits like Ted ($549.4 million).
3. Ludacris ($5.1 billion)
The rapper (whose real name is Chris Bridges) owes his place on this list to his roles in several chapters of the Fast and Furious franchise that grossed over $2.8 billion. He was also in films like Crash ($98.4 million) and the made-in-Toronto Max Payne ($85.4 million).
4. Queen Latifah ($4.9 billion)
The rapper provided the voice of Ellie in four Ice Age movies that grossed a combined $2.8 billion. A pair of movies she made in Toronto – Chicago and Hairspray – grossed a combined $508 million.
5. Ice Cube ($2.3 billion)
The rap star’s list of films includes Anaconda and Ride Along but most of his box office revenues came from two franchises: 21 Jump Street ($201.6 million) and 22 Jump Street ($331.3 million) as well as xXx: State of the Union ($71 million) and the Ontario-shot xXx: The Return of Xander Cage ($346.1 million).
6. Lenny Kravitz ($1.8 billion)
Kravitz has acting in his blood – his mother played Helen on The Jeffersons – but has mostly focused on rock music. Still, he appeared in Oscar-nominated Precious as well as The Hunger Games Catching Fire ($865 million) and The Hunger Games ($694.4 million).
7. Beyoncé ($1.6 billion)
The Lion King remake is still raking in cash so Beyoncé is soon going to climb higher on this list. She can also credit flicks like Austin Powers in Goldmember ($296.7 million), Epic ($268.4 million) and Dreamgirls ($154.9 million).
8. Justin Timberlake ($1.6 billion)
Yes, Timberlake was part of The All-New Mickey Mouse Club in 1993 but he didn’t really start acting on screen until after NSYNC’s debut album in 1997. He’s been in movies like The Social Network ($224.9 million), Bad Teacher ($216.2 million) and Friends With Benefits ($149.5 million) and voiced a character in Trolls ($346.9 million).
9. Rihanna ($1.2 billion)
Rihanna debuted in Bring It On: All or Nothing a year after her debut album came out. She voiced Tip Tucci in Home ($386 million) and starred in movies like Battleship ($303 million) and Ocean’s 8 ($297.7 million).
10. Mandy Moore ($1 billion)
More than half of the singer’s total box office comes from her voicing Rapunzel in Tangled ($591.8 million). The star of A Walk in Remember will likely see her number increase after the release of the Montreal-shot war drama Midway later this year.
These music stars have a bit of catching up to do:
Nick Jonas ($989.6 million)
Dwight Yoakam ($857 million)
50 Cent ($673.4 million)
Harry Styles ($600.2 million)
Madonna ($490.2 million)
Lady Gaga ($435 million)