'Moneyball' can't catch 'Lion King'

'Moneyball' and 'Dolphin Tale' turn to have legs in the B.O. 'Dolphin Tale'While "Moneyball" starts Sony's fall control of adult-skewing photos, a set of family photos, Disney's "The Lion King" and WB's "Dolphin Tale," demonstrated to become heavy players too. The Kaira Pitt starrer first showed Stateside within the Sept. 23-25 weekend with $19.5 million, sufficient to conquer Warner Bros.' decently allocated "Dolphin Tale" (costing within the mid-$$ 30 million range), which arrived in third place with $19.two million.Nor new entry gained enough to top Disney's steady three dimensional reissue "The Lion King," which made $21.9 million, for any minimal soph-sesh drop of 27%. For "Moneyball," The new sony used exactly the same plan it had for "The Social Networking" last fall, when that film opened up to $22 million and continued to cume $97 million locally. The studio states "Moneyball" may also gross around four occasions its opening the pic's greatest problem will arise with worldwide auds, the majority of whom (except in Japan and Columbia) aren't baseball fans.So that they can lower the pic's overseas hurdle, The new sony used a worldwide online marketing strategy that centered on Pitt, and fewer on baseball. The pic's early one-sheet, for example, portrayed a virtually unrecognizable Pitt sitting on a baseball area, that was later transformed to have a close-from the actor."Moneyball" will face tough competish around the adult front, including Sony's own George Clooney-helmed "The Ides of March" bowing March. 7. Contact Andrew Stewart at andrew.stewart@variety.com