The holiday box office is winding down this weekend as “Mufasa: The Lion King” and “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” continue to lead charts and draw family audiences before schools go back in session.
Though “Mufasa” was above “Sonic 3” across much of the holiday weekdays, this third outing will mark its first three-day weekend frame as No. 1. It had to wait to be king, but now the Disney prequel is on top after earning an estimated $7.6 million on Friday. The digitally-rendered animal musical from director Barry Jenkins has now crossed $150 million in North America and has entered into the top 15 earners among 2024 domestic releases.
It’s been steady business through the holidays for “Mufasa” after a slow start, though ultimately it still hasn’t matched the $191 million that its predecessor, the 2019 “Lion King” remake, earned in its domestic opening weekend alone. At a production budget north of $200 million, “Mufasa” has drawn substantial business, particularly overseas, but hasn’t proven to be the event hit that that price tag would suggest.
Meanwhile, Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” slowed to second after earning $6.9 million on Friday. The new feature adaptation of Sega’s enduring speedster platformer is projecting $20.7 million for its third weekend of release. It has now surpassed $170 million in North America and seems days shy of dashing past the $190 million domestic gross that “Sonic 2” finished within 2022. A fourth installment in the franchise is already in the works at Paramount.
Third goes to Focus Features’ “Nosferatu,” which is proving to be one of the top performers in the specialty banner’s history. This second outing clocked in at $4.2 million, which marked a 42% drop from its Christmas weekend opening. The domestic gross looks to reach $69 million through Sunday.
Disney has fourth place with “Moana 2,” which added an estimated $4.1 million on Friday. Now in its sixth weekend, the Disney sequel surpassed $900 million globally earlier this week and is on the cusp of surpassing “Despicable Me 4” ($969 million) to become the third-highest grossing release of 2024. The $1 billion milestone isn’t far off after that — a mark that was only passed by “Deadpool & Wolverine” and “Inside Out 2” last year (both also Disney releases).
“Wicked” looks to round out the top five, nabbing another $3.3 million in its seventh weekend of release. Though it’s now available to watch via premium video on-demand, the bifurcated musical adaptation about Oz is still drawing solid business and could reach $450 million domestic through the end of the weekend.
Just outside the top five, Searchlight Pictures’ “A Complete Unknown” is posting a strong hold after earning a projected $2.6 million on Friday. The biopic starring Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan is looking at a drop of about 33% in its second outing after Christmas weekend. It will surpass $40 million domestic through Sunday.