By Earlier this week it was projected Paramount’s sequel “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” and Disney’s prequel “Mufasa: The Lion King” were going to be battling out for #1 at the box-office with both films projected to haul in about $50-55 million in their domestic opening weekends.
Now that actual numbers are coming in, it’s proving not even remotely close with Sonic looking set to debut well ahead of expectations and doubling the numbers that the under-performing “Mufasa” is set to do.
“Sonic the Hedgehog 3 pulled $26 million on its opening day (including $6.5M in previews) and is headed for a opening of over $70 million – quite possibly beating the $72.1 million opening of the second film back in 2022.
“Mufasa” meanwhile pulled in $13.3 million for Friday (including $3.3 million in previews) and is headed for a $35 million three-day start – around $15 million less than projections of a few days ago. Costing $200 million before marketing, the film will rely on overseas revenue to make a profit, but overseas box-office has been much more hit-and-miss this year so it’s not a guarantee.
The pair will push “Moana 2” and “Wicked” to fighting it out for third place as both movies are tracking for $14 million. Those films have grossed $360 million and $384 million domestically respectively. Fifth place will be Angel Studios’ western “Homestead” with $5.2 million.
International figures will be interesting as “Mufasa” opens worldwide this weekend but the third “Sonic” has been pushed to Christmas or Boxing Day in many international markets – so won’t reach its full box-office potential until next weekend
Source: Deadline
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