Lion had its world premiere on 10 September 2016 at the Toronto International Film Festival.[15][16][17] It served as the opening night film at the Zurich Film Festival on 22 September.[18] It also screened at the London Film Festival on 12 October,[19] and at the Hamptons International Film Festival on 7 and 8 October.[20] The film was released in the United States on 25 November 2016,[21] in Australia on 19 January 2017,[22] and in the United Kingdom on 20 January.[23] A special red carpet charity event for the Tasmanian premiere of Lion was attended by the film's subject, Saroo Brierley, and his family at the State Cinema in December 2016.[24]
The film was made available on Digital HD on 28 March 2017, followed by a Blu-ray and DVD release on 11 April.[25][26] It debuted at No. 10 on the Top 20 NPD VideoScan chart.[27]
