With MUFASA nipping at its heels, Paramount’s SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3 won first place for the second weekend in a row with a weekend box office of $38.0M. The top two were joined on Christmas Day by four new wide release movies, leading to an impressive total of $165M for the final weekend of the year. This was 46% higher than the last weekend of 2023, which produced $112.9M and was led by WONKA in its third weekend with $22.5M. The year is finishing up with a strong momentum that should carry it into early 2025.
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3’s $38.0M was a drop of 37% from last weekend’s opening number, bringing the 10-day total for the video game hero to $137.6M domestic and $211.5M worldwide. SONIC 3 is now the top-earning movie of the three SONIC movies, taking full advantage of the earnings potential in the Christmas holiday period. The two earlier SONIC movies were released in the less fruitful months of February and April.
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG Franchise History after 10 Days in Release
- SONIC THE HEDGEHOG (2/14/2020) – Domestic Opening $58.0M (4,167 Locations), Domestic 10-Day $106.5M, Domestic Total $149.0M, Worldwide Total $319.7M, Budget $85M, RT Critics/Audience 64%/93%
- SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2 (4/8/2022) – Domestic Opening $72.1M (4,234 Locations), Domestic 10-Day $119.9M, Domestic Total $190.9M, Worldwide Total $405.4M, Budget $110M, RT Critics/Audience 69%/96%
- SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3 (12/20/2024) – Domestic Opening $60.M (3,761 Locations), Domestic 10-Day $137.6M, RT Critics/Audience 88%/98%
After Paramount and Disney announced that both SONIC and MUFASA would open on 12/20, some speculated that one of the studios would eventually blink and shift their opening to another weekend. However, both studios held firm to their original plans, and were rewarded in the end with solid earnings. SONIC 3 is on currently on track to wind up as the box office leader of the franchise. While MUFASA has put in a strong showing, weeks one and two have gone to SONIC.
Disney’s MUFASA: THE LION KING earned a second-place finish with $37.1M, an increase of 5% from last weekend’s opening. The animated feature has earned $113.5M domestic and $328M worldwide in its first 10 days. Two encouraging numbers for Disney are MUFASA’s increase in ticket sales from its first to second weekend and a strong international box office.
THE LION KING Franchise History after 10 Days
- THE LION KING (6/15/1994) – Domestic Opening $1.6M (2 Locations), Domestic 10-Day $44.7M, Domestic Total $425.0M (2,552 Locations), Worldwide Total $981.7M, Budget $45M, RT Critics/Audience 92%/93%
- THE LION KING (7/19/2019) – Domestic Opening $191.8M (4,725 Locations), Domestic 10-Day $351.9M, Domestic Total $543.6M, Worldwide Total $1.662B, Budget $260M, RT Critics/Audience 51%/88%
- MUFASA: THE LION KING (12/20/2024) – Domestic Opening $35.0M (4,100 Locations), Domestic 10-Day $113.5M, RT Critics/Audience 55%/88%
It is a tall order to expect MUFASA to match the success of the two previous LION KING movies, since they were both high on the list of the top-grossing animated movies of all time. Not even the Disney executives behind the new movie thought it would rise to those levels. After a second weekend increase of 5%, MUFASA earned just $900K less than SONIC 3 after coming in last weekend with a much larger $24.7M deficit. As typical for a Disney animated film, its week-to-week decline has been lower than that of most films, animated or otherwise. It is quite possible that MUFASA’s weekend box office will overtake SONIC’s in the weeks ahead.
Focus Features’ horror film NOSFERATU finished in third place with $21.2M in its opening weekend and $40.3M in the five days since it opened on Wednesday. This film is a remake of the 1922 German silent film NOSFERATU which itself was an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel “Dracula.” The new movie is directed by Robert Eggers, known for creating distinctive and atmospheric films that blend historic settings with psychological horror. His previous works include THE WITCH (2015), a folk horror tale starring Anya Taylor-Joy that is set in New England in the 1630s, THE LIGHTHOUSE (2019), a psychological thriller starring Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson that takes place on an island off New England in the 19th century, and THE NORTHMAN (2022), an action-packed revenge tale set in Scandinavia during the Viking era.
NOSFERATU has produced the best opening weekend for an Eggers-directed movie, beating out THE NORTHMAN‘s $12.1M in its opening three days. Eggers is credited with contributing to the pre-release buzz surrounding his film, with legions of fans purchasing advance tickets from the moment they went on sale last month. The film features an ensemble cast with Bill Skarsgard, Nicholos Holt, Lilly Rose Depp, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Willem Dafoe. Critics have weighed in by giving it an excellent 86% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while audiences have had a somewhat more muted response with a 75% score. Some have said that the pacing of the story could have been faster, after sitting through 2 hours and 12 minutes. However, most report that Eggers has created a memorable atmosphere which adds to the suspense, and features compelling performances, especially by Lilly Rose Depp.
Focus has been strategic in taking advantage of a stretch in the holiday release schedule without competing horror films. In fact, scare-seekers have been unable to get their fix since A24’s HERETIC opened on November 8th. In addition, there is no new horror film on the schedule next weekend as well, unlike the opening weekend of the last two years when NIGHTSWIM opened in 2024 and M3GAN opened in 2023. With a reported production budget of $50M, NOSFERATU will need to earn $125M worldwide to break even from box office sales. Results in its first five days have placed it well on its way. We are also expecting strong sales in international markets, since the character of Dracula is well-known throughout the world.
Universal’s WICKED finished in fourth place with $19.5M, 37% higher than last weekend. This brings WICKED’s total run to $424.2M domestic and $618.4M worldwide. WICKED will be the highest grossing movie of the fourth quarter, holding off MOANA 2 which had held the lead at one point. It helped that WICKED had an earlier release date than MOANA 2, giving it five additional days to rack up sales.
WICKED vs. MOANA 2 – Total Domestic Gross as of 12/29/2024
- WICKED (11/20/2024) – Domestic 38-Day $424.2M, Budget $150M, RT Critics/Audience 88%/95%
- MOANA 2 (11/25/2024) – Domestic 23-Day $394.6M, Budget $150M, RT Critics/Audience 61%/86%
WICKED and MOANA 2 have been the biggest contributors to the surge in moviegoing since Thanksgiving, with a combined domestic box office of $818.8M and counting.
Disney’s MOANA 2 finished in fifth place with an additional $18.2M, an increase of 38% from last weekend. After 33 days, the sequel has earned $394.6M domestic and $857.8M worldwide, moving it into second place behind INSIDE OUT 2 among animated movies this year. MOANA 2 is also the 12th highest animated movie of all-time in domestic box office, having just passed FINDING NEMO which earned $380.8M in 2003, and it still has a few productive weeks ahead to top off its total. In 2024, Disney has enjoyed great success with its animated hits INSIDE OUT 2 and MOANA 2 earning $1.047B domestic and $2.557B worldwide combined. It is hard to imagine what the year would have looked like without these two stalwarts, and MUFASA: THE LION KING adding its support into these terrific totals.
Where Are We as of 12/26/2024
After 51 weeks, the 2024 box office totals 95% of 2023 and 76% of 2019.