Sonic The Hedgehog 3 is off to a fast start at the domestic box office, pulling in $62 million during its opening weekend. That’s significantly more than Mufasa: The Lion King managed — Disney’s live action prologue made $35 million during the same time period.
It's an early victory for Sonic, then, but there's a slightly different story globally. Mufasa: The Lion King opened to $87.2 million internationally, which, combined with its domestic haul, is enough to make it the number one global release of the weekend with $122.2 million.
However, Sonic The Hedgehog 3 is yet to launch in all international markets, so a proper global comparison won’t be possible until next weekend’s numbers are in.
Will Paramount be pleased with Sonic 3's performance so far? Sonic the Hedgehog 3 opened above the original 2020 Sonic the Hedgehog’s $58 million and just below 2022’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2 ($72 million). Both films will hope for stickiness over the holiday period and into the New Year.
It sounds like a positive picture for Sonic, but a disappointing one for Mufasa. Variety called it a “terrible” start domestically, given Mufasa cost more than $200 million to produce and roughly $100 million to promote. Sonic the Hedgehog 3, on the other hand, cost $122 million and still has its international release to come.
It’s no surprise, then, that Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is already confirmed. For more, check out Sonic 3 Ending Explained, the Big the Cat Cameo That Almost Was, and our Sonic The Hedgehog 3 review.
As for Mufasa: The Lion King, Disney will be hoping positive word of mouth helps it rebound over the holidays. IGN’s Mufasa: The Lion King review returned an 8/10. We said: “Barry Jenkins’ Mufasa is a strong, uncomplicated effort that should charm kids. The Moonlight director's involvement in a CGI-heavy Disney prequel caused serious film lovers to wring their hands, but the results speak for themselves: This is simply a lovely movie.”
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
