Worldwide box office December 27-29
| Rank | Film (distributor) | 3-day (world) | Cume (world) | 3-day (int’l) | Cume (int’l) | Territories |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Mufasa: The Lion King (Disney) | $114.2m | $327.9m | $77.1m | $214.5m | 53 |
| 2. | Sonic The Hedgehog 3 (Paramount) | $112m | $211.5m | $74m | $74m | 53 |
| 3. | Moana 2 (Disney) | $54.3m | $882.5m | $36.1m | $487.9m | 53 |
| 4. | Wicked (Universal) | $33.1m | $634.7m | $13.6m | $210.1m | 82 |
| 5. | Big World (various) | $29.2m | $29.2m | $29.2m | $29.2m | 1 |
| 6. | Nosferatu (Universal) | $24.1m | $43.3m | $3m | $3m | 6 |
| 7. | Octopus With Broken Arms (various) | $21.5m | $21.5m | $21.5m | $21.5m | 1 |
| 8. | A Complete Unknown (Searchlight) | $11.6m | $23.1m | 1 | ||
| 9. | Gladiator II (Paramount) | $10.1m | $435.2m | $6m | $272.1m | 66 |
| 10. | Harbin (various) | $7.4m | $7.6m | $7.4m | $7.5m | 2 |
Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates.
Broad appeal for ‘Mufasa’ wins festive season
Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King shared honours with Paramount’s Sonic The Hedgehog 3 at the North American, international and global box office for the latest weekend period – with both films delivering very similar numbers from a similar footprint of markets.
However, in cumulative, Mufasa: The Lion King has pulled ahead, thanks to consistently strong day-by-day box office numbers over the festive period.
For the weekend, Disney’s photorealistic animation, which is both a sequel and prequel to 2019’s The Lion King, grossed an estimated $37.1m in North America, $77.1m for international and $114.2m worldwide. (See below for Sonic The Hedgehog 3 weekend numbers.)
Over the past seven days, Mufasa’s numbers are a hefty $78.5m in North America, $127.3m for international and $205.8m worldwide. Total for Mufasa after two weekends of play is $328.0m – which compares with $211.6m for Sonic The Hedgehog 3.
In international markets excluding China, drop for Mufasa from the opening weekend was just 8%, while North America saw a 5% increase.
While Paramount’s Sonic film has a clear appeal for kids, Mufasa is nicely positioned for multi-generation family groups looking for a film to see together over the festive season – and in fact family is a strong theme of Mufasa’s storyline.
In cumulative box office, France leads international territories for Mufasa with $20.9m, ahead of UK/Ireland ($15.8m), Mexico ($15.5m), Italy ($14.4m) and Germany ($13.6m). Next comes a strong India ($12.5m), which is ahead of China ($11.7m), Spain ($8.6m), Brazil ($7.8m) and Australia ($6.6m).
Estimated Imax weekend takings of $8.0m globally represents a 4% dip from the opening session. Imax total after two weekends is $23.0m.
Despite the strong result for Mufasa over Christmas week, the film remains behind the pace of 2019’s The Lion King, which reached a lifetime total of $1.66bn, and is the tenth-biggest film of all time at the worldwide box office.
Mufasa is directed by Barry Jenkins, from a screenplay by Jeff Nathanson (Catch Me If You Can).
Previews boost ‘Sonic The Hedgehog 3’ in international markets
Paramount has declared an opening weekend number for Sonic The Hedgehog 3 in international markets totalling $74.0m, including previews.
While that number almost matches the weekend international total for Mufasa: The Lion King ($77.1m), it is hard to determine an exact comparison – because of Sonic 3’s aggressive previews strategy.
For example, while UK/Ireland leads international markets on Sonic The Hedgehog 3 with an estimated $15.1m, that number represents eight days of box office takings if Christmas Day is excluded (Dec 21-24 and 26-29).
In North America, estimated weekend takings of $38.0m for Sonic The Hedgehog 3 represent a 37% drop from the opening session. Cumulative domestic box office after two weekends of play is $113.5m.
Globally, Sonic The Hedgehog 3 now stands at $211.6m.
Among international markets, UK/Ireland leads ahead of Mexico (an estimated $10.3m), France ($7.3m), Australia ($5.5m) and Germany ($3.7m). All these numbers include paid previews.
So far, Sonic The Hedgehog 3 has reached 84% of its international footprint, with 10 markets yet to open including South Korea, Brazil and Italy, which start their rollout this coming weekend. China follows on January 10.
Given the previews-heavy international strategy for Sonic The Hedgehog 3, box office comparisons with the first two Sonic films at the same stage of release are hard to make.
However, Sonic The Hedgehog 3 is now 66% of the way to reaching the $319.7m worldwide achieved by the first Sonic The Hedgehog film in cusp-of-pandemic February 2020. Sonic The Hedgehog 2, which launched in April 2022, reached $405.4m globally.
‘Nosferatu’ and ‘A Complete Unknown’ open big in North America
Focus Features and Searchlight Pictures – the specialty divisions of Universal and Disney – both had reasons to celebrate at the weekend, thanks to the strong openings in North America respectively of Nosferatu and A Complete Unknown.
Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu began with an estimated $21.2m for the three-day weekend, and $40.3m for the five-day holiday period beginning Christmas Day (ie December 25-29).
In addition, five early international markets – Spain, France, Belgium, French-speaking Switzerland and Trinidad – delivered an estimated $3.0m
Those numbers combine to give Nosferatu a worldwide launch totalling $43.3m.
In North America, Nosferatu has already exceeded the lifetime box office achieved by Eggers’ The Northman in 2022 ($34.2m). Worldwide, The Northman reached $69.6m.
Eggers’ other two features – The Lighthouse (2019) and The Witch (2015) – respectively reached $18.1m and $40.4m worldwide.
Nosferatu enjoys its true international test this coming weekend, when it lands in key markets Australia, Italy and UK/Ireland (all January 1) plus Mexico, Brazil and Germany (all January 2). South Korea follows on January 15.
For Searchlight, James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown has launched with an estimated $11.6m for the three-day weekend, and $23.2m for the five days including December 25 and 26. That’s the biggest ever opening for a Searchlight film since Disney acquired Fox in early 2019, and the second-biggest opening overall (after 2009 Notorious B.I.G. biopic Notorious).
A Complete Unknown – which tells the story of Bob Dylan’s early years on the Greenwich Village folk scene, culminating in his conversion to electric instruments and a divisive performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival – rolls out into international markets across January and February.
‘Moana 2’ and ‘Wicked’ pile on box office
Holding steady in third place in the worldwide chart, Disney’s Moana 2 added an estimated $54.3m globally at the weekend, taking the total to $882.5m. Over the past seven days, the animated sequel added a healthy $92.3m.
One place below Moana 2 in the chart is Wicked, which added an estimated $33.1m globally at the weekend, bringing the total to $634.4m. Over the past seven days, the stage musical adaptation added $61.5m.
Wicked is now the highest-grossing adaptation of a stage musical of all time, overtaking 2008’s Mamma Mia! ($611.5m). (This comparison is not adjusted for inflation.)
The worldwide top five for the weekend is rounded out by Chinese film Big World, which rules the China box office with $28.2m. The self-empowerment tale features a protagonist overcoming challenges relating to his cerebral palsy. Second at the China box office is crime drama Octopus With Broken Arms, aka Wu Sha 3 – telling the story of a police investigation after a wealthy businessman’s daughter is kidnapped.
Propping up the worldwide top 10 chart is South Korean historical action film Harbin – Min-ho Woo’s film about events in 1909-10, when Korean independence activists launched an attack against the Japanese in Harbin (in Japan-occupied China) to gain their country’s independence.
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