By comparison,Sonic the Hedgehog 2opened on April 8, 2022 and brought in 59% families.
Confidence prevails in business from Christmas Day onward.
For the Brian Robbins run motion picture studio, its their 5th No.
‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’ and ‘Mufasa: The Lion King’Everett Collection
For Paramount, its the endgame thats most important onSonic 3.
1 theater in the nation for the pic at $61K.
Mufasawas female leaning at 54% and 18-34 at 39% and 31% over 35.
Disney
1 venue with $60K so far.
Even thoughSonic 3will buryMufasastateside,Mufasamay just have the last roar overseas.
Even thoughSonic 3opens abroad on Chrismas Day,Mufasais $122M ahead (that was its global opening).
Final global onSonic 2was $405.4M.
Its a UFC ring of PG-laden movies this Christmas betweenMufasa,Sonic the Hedgehog 3,WickedandMoana 2.
Disneys surfer girl sequel is eating about$13.1MofMufasas lunch in her fourth weekend, -50%.
Disney, we cant deny how far offMufasais from that opening: down -82%!
Even at a 7x multiple, that getsMufasas final U.S./Canada number somewhere near $260M.
Hopefully overseas, whereLion Kinghas reigned, will getMufasapast breakeven.
A $180M global opening was forecasted forMufasa.
Its bound to come in lower.
Unfortunately, former Disney CEO Bob Chapek isnt around, so we cant blame this on him.
As stunning as the animation is inMufasa(an avalanche!
Oh, no, lion cub in the river!)
And, sorry, the songs are forgettable.MufasamakesMoana 2look likeGodfather II.
You cannot feel any love tonight inMufasa.
Stop trying to ruin his character and change the canon.
The more recent animosity towards Disney is prevalent here, Another soulless 3D life-like movie from Disney.
I miss those 2D animated movies with colorful visuals and lot of personality.’
As good as that was for Warner Bros last year, man, this is aLion Kingprequel!
Lion King is a AAA brand toWonkas AA.
What else is going on?
It gets a B CinemaScore and 85% positive on PostTrak.
the top grossing venue with close to $13K so far.
Ten-day cume by Sunday looks to be at$17.4M.
A24 reports that 30 showtimes were sold out over the weekend for the 70MM and Imax previews.
People ask me, How do I make it through?
I cant possibly sit through a movie of that length.
Its easy: Espresso up and bring some protein bars.
Act one is 100 minutes, 15-minute pee intermission, 100-minute Act II.
What do you have to look forward to in Act II?
Thats when Felicity Jones enters the picture.
Currently the Jeff Fowler directed threequel is seeing$26Mtoday for a$70.5M3-day at 3,761 theaters.
Who knew wed see the day in recent years when a Paramount tentpole would dwarf a Disney one?
Some rivals were expecting a very large gap betweenSonicandMufasa.
It wasnt just a $10M spread.
Still a wealthy marketplace for two family movies, even ifMufasais coming up way short.
A few things while fanboys are out, families will head back on Christmas.
The sequel will land at$360Mby Sunday.
Angel StudiosHomesteadat 1,886 theaters is looking at a 3-day around$5.2Mafter a$2.8MFriday in 5th place.
Neal McDonough stars in the Ben Smallbone directed western.
PREVIOUS FRIDAY AM:ParamountsSonic the Hedgehog 3posted $6.5M in previews Thursday night.
Thats the official number from Paramount.
Disney reports thatMufasa: The Lion Kingdid $3.3M.
The Barry Jenkins-directed prequel is booked at 4,100 theaters.
Critics are harder onMufasaat 57% Rotten, whileSonic the Hedgehog 3is at 88% fresh.
Theres already an audience score forSonic3, and its a healthy 98%.
Even ifMufasacomes up short this weekend, Disney is hopeful that business will bounce back from Christmas Day onward.
