The Lion King to play in Brisbane, but will it rule the box office?

When The Lion King first played in Brisbane in 2014, it broke the record for the number of tickets sold in a single day.

QPAC executive director Rachel Healy has been hearing the stories from longtime staff.

“They said there was nothing like it in QPAC’s history, that kind of absolute bedlam,” she said.

“The phones went crazy, and there were queues forming all the way down the stairs outside the box office. It completely sold out its 19-week season.

“To have it coming back here is incredibly thrilling.”

Disney Theatrical Group has announced The Lion King will return to Brisbane, opening at QPAC’s Lyric Theatre in November for a 17-week run.

Online ticket sales are not the only difference facing Simba and his cast mates in 2026, however.

The live performance industry has been rocked by the cancellation of major musical tours across the country.

Beetlejuice ended its Brisbane season on July 5 instead of running until August as planned, and scheduled tours to Sydney, Perth and Adelaide were cancelled.

Beetlejuice producers Michael Cassel Group cited “a more cautious consumer environment” combined with the increased expense of touring.

Melbourne production Waitress cancelled its Sydney run a week later.

National tours of Back to the Future: The Musical and Dear Evan Hansen were cancelled in 2025.

The Lion King is currently playing to sold-out houses at Sydney’s Capitol Theatre and Healy said she had no worries about its success in Brisbane.

“There’s a saying amongst the commercial promoters in Australia, ‘thank God for Brisbane’, and that is testament to the strength of the ticket buying market here,” she said.

Eric Lassen, CEO of Live Performance Australia, said while it was “terrific” the show was touring to Brisbane, it was a proven box-office titan.

“The Lion King is a beloved show with broad appeal which will draw in families and tourists, and draw people from the regions and interstate. But as we’re seeing, other shows are struggling.”

He said producers were feeling the squeeze on both sides of the ledger.

“Costs have risen exponentially since COVID, and we know that household budgets are under strain,” he said.

A trend for audiences to hold off on buying tickets rather than snapping them up early was also increasing the risk for producers.

In June, LPA representatives including performer Tim Minchin launched the Parliamentary Friends of Live Performance group in Canberra.

The group is calling for a Live Performance Production Incentive to provide a 40 per cent tax offset on pre-production and development costs.

A similar model in the UK had seen a 400 per cent return on investment.

The Lion King made its Broadway debut in 1997 with songs by Elton John and Tim Rice and music by Hans Zimmer used in the 1994 Disney film, as well as additional songs by other composers.

Eight productions are currently playing around the world, and the show has been seen by more than 127 million people.

Tickets to The Lion King in Brisbane go on sale on Thursday, July 23, at 9am.

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