What is more profitable than Titanic, Avatar or any single Harry Potter or Star Wars film? The Lion King! No, not the movie, the musical!

Yes, theater fans, that’s right, what was once thought impossible, or at least highly unlikely, has finally happened! Late this summer, with a whopping $6.2 billion in global grosses, the stage musical,The Lion King became the most successful box office media product in the history of global entertainment. And, according to Disney reps, that figure is box office receipts alone. It does not even include revenue from merchandising, the film or licensing fees.

The Lion King featuring music by Elton John and lyrics by Tim Rice with concept and direction by Julie Taymor, debuted on Broadway in 1997 as an adaption of Disney’s celebrated film by the same name. The now iconic coming of age tale, told through puppetry and dance, boasts attendance that has increased four out of the last five years, laudable for a 17 year tenure on the Great White Way. Another possible reason for the economic success of the show is the emergence of “dynamic pricing”, a tactic once used primarily by airlines and hotels to increase revenues and introduced to the theater world in 2001 by the producers of The Producers who, capitalizing on their reputation as the toughest ticket in town, at one point charged a previously unheard of $480 a ticket. Dynamic pricing, also known as premium pricing, raises and lowers ticket prices based on demand and availability. This provides both an incentive for earlier purchasing and greater revenue over all.