‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’ and ‘Mufasa’ split the Christmas box office haul

Hello! Welcome to The Box Office Report for the weekend of Dec. 27-29, 2024.

1. Sonic the Hedgehog 3

Weekend gross: $38M
Total domestic gross: $136.9M
Last weekend: 1st
Percent drop: 37

It was a merry Christmas for both Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Mufasa: The Lion King. Each movie was able to claim a victory, with the Sonic sequel capturing the traditional three-day weekend victory over Mufasa ($38 million to $37.1 million) while Mufasa took the five-day Christmas weekend crown ($63.8 million to $60.4 million).

Thanks to the Christmas box office, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has sped past its two predecessors after two weekends. The original Sonic the Hedgehog had grossed $106.5 million through two weekends and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 stood at $118.9 million. The third Sonic movie easily beats those two numbers despite having an opening weekend that was $12 million behind Sonic 2.

2. Mufasa: The Lion King

Weekend gross: $37.1M
Total domestic gross: $113.5M
Last weekend: 2nd
Percent increase: 5

After a disappointing $35.4 million debut last weekend, Mufasa: The Lion King took advantage of Christmas to patch up its numbers a bit. The “live”-action sequel actually saw a 5 percent increase over last weekend, adding $37.1 million over the Friday-to-Sunday three-day frame.

Do I still believe Disney’s live-action remakes are a bad idea? Absolutely. Through its first two weekends, Jon Favreau’s Lion King remake had pulled in a massive $351.9 million in North America. Mufasa has yet to even match its predecessor’s $191.8 million opening weekend haul.