There was a new box office king, and it wasn't Mufasa or any other lion.

That honor belonged to Sonic 3, which managed to outgross Mufasa to top the box office. The latter still won the foreign box office, even if the numbers are way below the expectations. In limited release, A24's The Brutalist had one of the best per-theater averages of the year so far. While last week's newcomers, Kraven and The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim had poor drops after their anemic starts.

The Top 10 earned a combined $139.7 million. That's up a massive 62% from last year, when Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom topped and flopped.

Debuting in first place, Paramount's Sonic the Hedgehog 3 earned $60.1 million in 3,761 theaters. That's below the $72 million debut from the previous film, but that's not really a cause for concern as of now; December titles are often known for decreasing openings but strong legs.

While not a franchise best, this is still a very solid debut. As the previous film teased, the introduction of Shadow was key to the hype. Adding Keanu Reeves to the mix was also a strong choice to get the Internet going wild. It's a film where Paramount aggressively campaigned and got people talking. The fact that there were 3 Sonic films in the span of almost five years is impressive, especially when the third film has the strongest reviews so far. While it might sound disappointing that the film didn't outperform the second film, at least it has the December excuse.

According to Paramount, 59% of the audience was male and 43% was in the 18-34 demographic. They gave it a strong "A" on CinemaScore, which is the same score as the previous films. Despite its lower-than-expected opening, it's gonna have some legs through the holidays. For now, $200 million should happen. Paramount clearly believes in the franchise; they already announced development on a fourth film before the film even opened.

Having to settle for second place, Disney's Mufasa: The Lion King earned just $35.4 million in 4,100 theaters. That's down a massive 82% from the 2019 film, which broke so many records back then. Even if we have to accept that December lowers the opening weekend numbers, that's still a horrible drop.

Disney clearly believed in the potential of the 2019 Lion King remake. After all, it earned $1.6 billion worldwide. But the thing is that the film's reputation is not the same as it was 5 years ago. The audience liked the film and ate it up, but like a lot of live-action remakes, the audience moved on afterwards. All while the criticism for the 2019 film just increased.

But still, how can it explain a 82% drop? Even if we have to ignore the fact that people moved on from the 2019 version, there's the fact that this is completely new story with new songs. There's no nostalgia to be milked here, and the prequel aspect is also a double-edged sword; we already know Mufasa and Scar will live and eventually become enemies. Audiences can simply skip the film and won't really miss anything, unless you're insanely passionate to learn questions like… how did Rafiki got his staff? Even with the presence of a fantastic filmmaker like Barry Jenkins, you can tell this was just a paycheck; it's sitting at a weak 57% on RT. So if you didn't care or forgot about the 2019 film, there are no reasons to check this out.

According to Disney, 54% of the audience was female and 39% was in the 18-34 demographic. They gave it a fine "A–" on CinemaScore, which is lower than the previous film. Even if the film legs out to a 6x multiplier, that would still be just $212 million, which is like 60% down from the previous film. Needless to say, it's unlikely there will be a third Lion King film.

Universal's Wicked was on third place, easing just 38% and adding $14.1 million. That takes its domestic total to $384.5 million, and it should continue holding incredibly well through the holidays.

After topping the box office for three weekends, Moana 2 was hit by Sonic and Mufasa. The film fell to fourth place, and it had another rough drop, officially losing to Wicked on the weekends. This time, it fell 50%, adding $13.2 million this weekend. While the film has had a huge opening weekend, the legs are leaving a lot to be desired. The film has made $359.1 million, and it has zero shot at hitting $450 million domestically. That's quite disappointing, signaling that the film was very front-loaded.

Angel Studios also released Homestead this weekend. Opening in 1,886 theaters, it earned a solid $6 million. While critics lambasted the film, the audience gave it a middling "B" on CinemaScore. It should hold well thanks to the holidays, but it would be a surprise if it came anything close to $30 million by the end of its run.

Gladiator II is still showing some legs, even if they arrived a little too late to make a difference. The film dropped 40%, adding $4.5 million this weekend. The film has made $154 million so far, and the holidays should get it to around $170 million.

After its pathetic debut, Kraven the Hunter didn't save face on its second weekend. The film earned just $3 million, which marks a horrible 72% drop, almost on par with Morbius. Through ten days, the film has made a poor $17.3 million so far, and with four films opening in wide release, it will continue falling. Even with the holidays, it'd be a surprise if it made much more than $25 million domestically.

Amazon's Red One had its worst drop so far, falling 65% and earning only $1.4 million. With more theater drops on the way, it's now guaranteed to finish below $100 million, which is quite disappointing.

So Kraven had a horrible drop, yet The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim was ready to introduce itself. It made just $1.2 million this weekend, which is a horrible 73% drop and the worst drop in the franchise. The film has earned a meager $7.3 million, and it's gonna struggle to hit $10 million lifetime, which is just pathetic. Just a few minutes ago, it was announced that the film will hit digital at home on December 27, just 2 weeks of theatrical exclusivity. Ouch.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever rounded up the Top 10, earning $780,000 this weekend. That takes its domestic total to $38.4 million. It has a few more days to make money before completely free falling.

A24's The Brutalist debuted in 4 theaters. Despite its commanding 215-minute runtime, the film earned $266,791, which translates to a very strong $66,698 per-theater average (third best of the year). With strong awards buzz on the way, the film will continue expanding in the coming weeks.

OVERSEAS

In some consolation, Mufasa topped the foreign box office. Even though that's by default; Sonic didn't debut in any market, opting to start its international run on Christmas.

With that out of the way, Mufasa debuted with $87.2 million in the overseas markets, for a $122.2 million worldwide debut. That's far below the projected $180 million debut, and a far cry from the original. It had soft debuts across the world, with its best numbers in China ($7.8M), France ($7.7M), Mexico ($7.1M), the UK ($5.5M) and Germany ($5M). Even with the benefit of holidays, it's tough to see the film making much more than $600 million worldwide, more than $1 billion below the 2019 title. Which means it will break the record for the biggest sequel-to-original drop.

Moana 2 added $32.8 million this weekend, as its worldwide total is nearing $800 million. The best markets so far are France ($46M), UK ($37.6M), Germany ($29M); Mexico ($26.2M) and Brazil ($24M). That billion is gonna take a few more weeks.

Wicked added $12.6 million this weekend, taking its worldwide total to $572 million. The best markets are the UK ($60.8M), Australia ($22.5M), Korea ($13.1M), Mexico ($9.6M) and Germany ($8M).

In some notable news, Gladiator II has finally crossed $400 million worldwide, with a $416.3 million run so far.

FILMS THAT ENDED THEIR RUN THIS WEEK

None.

THIS WEEK

We'll have four films hitting wide release.

The first is Robert Eggers' new film Nosferatu, a remake of the 1922 film. Eggers is coming off The Northman, which was his highest grossing film. Even though it wasn't theatrically successful, it was reported that it broke even through ancilliaries, which is why this film exists. Pre-sales are very strong for its opening day, and with fantastic reviews so far, it looks like Eggers might have a new highest grossing film.

Another release is Searchlight's A Complete Unknown, which stars Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan. The film has earned very good reviews, but Chalamet has received acclaim so far, building strong awards buzz. Perhaps we're looking at another sleeper hit.

A24 is also releasing Babygirl, which stars Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson. Once again, another title with decent reviews so far, and Kidman earning Oscar buzz for her performance.

The final title is Amazon's The Fire Inside, which marks Rachel Morrison's directorial debut, written by Barry Jenkins. The film stars Ryan Destiny and Brian Tyree Henry, and follows the true story of American professional boxer Claressa "T-Rex" Shields as she trains for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Amazon's The Boys in the Boat performed quite well last year, so perhaps this could surprise.

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