"The Lion King," the Broadway show opening Sept. 15 at the Blaisdell Concert Hall, generated a box-office sales record with 19,000 tickets snapped up last Saturday for $1.65 million, the promoter said.

"We are overwhelmed by the community support we have received in Honolulu, and Saturday's ticket sales are a reflection of the aloha the state of Hawai'i has given us," said Jack Lucas, president of WestCoast Entertainment, in a written statement.

"We were extremely pleased at the end of the day by the number of ticket sales that were generated by the initial on-sale, and I hope Hawai'i will continue to welcome us with open arms," Lucas said.

The line for tickets started forming at 9:45 a.m. Friday and several hundred people had gathered by the time the Blaisdell box office opened at 6 a.m. Saturday for a three-hour sale.

The Tony Award-winning musical is initially selling seats for a six-week run through Oct. 28, though an extension is highly likely.

"Phantom of the Opera" logged a gross of $11.3 million in a multiweek run in Honolulu in 1994, and "Les Miserables" grossed nearly $8 million in a 1993 visit.

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com.