‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’ and ‘Mufasa’ Headline Big Weekend & Holiday Box Office Update

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As a seasoned cinephile who has witnessed countless box office battles over the years, I must say that the holiday season of 2024 was one for the books! The epic showdown between Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Mufasa was nothing short of exhilarating. While Mufasa’s prequel had a promising start with its enchanting storyline, it seemed to have missed the mark this time around, falling short of expectations.

2024’s last box office showdown between Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Mufasa has concluded, with one undeniably emerging victorious, as anticipated. However, the holiday period’s influence, particularly on these two family-friendly movies, was evidently significant.

Sonic Continued to Dominate on Monday

Even though the weekend has ended, the struggle persists. With schools closed for Christmas, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Mufasa have been engaged in a fierce box office competition on Monday as well. Just as during the weekend, Sonic emerged victorious – albeit with numbers remarkably close this time around.

As a die-hard fan, I was thrilled to see Sonic the Hedgehog 3 bring in an impressive $9 million on Monday, adding to its current total of $69 million. Although it didn’t match Sonic 2’s record-breaking opening weekend, its solid performance indicates that it’s poised for a strong finish as we approach the end of 2024. With the long holiday season ahead, I’m optimistic that this beloved franchise has a real shot at setting a new box office record.

Despite facing challenges ahead as the prequel still needs to rise above its difficulties, things seem promising for Mufasa. On Monday alone, the future king raked in an impressive $7 million, pushing his total box office earnings past $40 million.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3’s Intriguing Box Office Weekend

The anticipated domestic earnings for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 were roughly between $60 and $70 million, but the movie fell short during its first weekend, earning slightly over $60 million. One possible explanation for the lower-than-expected box office performance is that fewer families attended cinemas this weekend compared to when Sonic 2 was released. Deadline highlighted a difference of 13% in the percentage of families attending the theater on opening day between Sonic 3 (46%) and Sonic 2 (59%).

During this season, discussions about the time of year tend to be quite prominent. Given that many significant holiday festivities occur this week, it’s plausible that numerous families nationwide are either traveling for or have already embarked on their vacation, making it less probable for them to go to a movie theater. Nevertheless, the holiday season presents two contrasting aspects, as demonstrated by the post-weekend box office figures. Since most K-12 schools and colleges are currently on break this week, cinemas noticed an increase in visitors during the holidays, with Sonic the Hedgehog 3 particularly doing well at the box office on Monday.

Based on its strong performance over the weekend with earnings of approximately $15.3 million on Sunday alone, and projected additional earnings of around $50 million from Wednesday through Saturday, it seems clear that the fast-moving movie character in blue has dominated the box office during the holiday period, as anticipated.

Mufasa’s Disappointing Showing

Despite the specialists having accurately foreseen that Sonic the Hedgehog 3 would outrun Mufasa in the weekend race, hardly anyone foresaw such a poor performance. The prequel to The Lion King brought in $35.4 million during its opening week, falling about fifteen million short of what experts had projected. Given the challenge of matching The Lion King’s impressive $191 million opening weekend haul, it was always going to be tough for Mufasa to keep up. However, it is challenging to view this take on a Disney classic as anything other than disappointing.

As a passionate moviegoer, I found myself caught between two titans over the past weekend. The masterfully crafted film by Barry Jenkins had an impressive peak of $10.2 million on its final day, with projections estimating it could earn up to $40-$45 million during the five-day holiday period. However, the highly anticipated Sonic the Hedgehog 3 proved to be a formidable competitor, making life tough for Mufasa and Disney.

During the holiday season, Disney’s upcoming film Moana 2 is expected to earn around $20-$22 million in ticket sales within a five-day period. Meanwhile, the musical adaptation of Wicked, which has transitioned from Broadway to the big screen, collected an extra $14.1 million during its fifth week in cinemas according to Deadline, pushing its overall earnings close to $390 million – making it the highest grossing movie within its genre.

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2024-12-24 04:08