Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog 3 easily topped Friday’s chart with a huge $25.6 million, putting it on course for a $70 million domestic opening as Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King comes in a distant second.
Paramount knew the Sonic threequel was in great shape when it earned a franchise-best $6.5 million in Thursday previews. The second Sonic grossed $5 million in previews on its way to a $72.1 million opening. That film, however, opened in March. The Christmas holidays are a far different proposition.
Sonic 3 sees director Jeff Fowler reunite with returning castmembers Jim Carrey, Ben Schwartz, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Idris Elba, Colleen O’Shaughnessey, Natasha Rothwell, Shemar Moore, Adam Pally and Lee Majdoub. Keanu Reeves joins the franchise as Shadow the Hedgehog, while other series newcomers include Alyla Browne and Krysten Ritter.
Sonic 3 has been embraced by critics — casting Reeves was a smooth move — and boasts a franchise-best critics score of 88 percent on Rotten Tomatoes (that compares to 64 percent and 68 percent, respectively, for the first two) and a stellar 98 audience score on RT’s Popcornmeter. It also received an A CinemaScore and stellar PostTrak exits.
The story follows Sonic, Knuckles and Tails as they team to face their most powerful adversary yet, a mysterious villain with powers unlike anything they have faced before. With their abilities outmatched in every way, Team Sonic must seek out an unlikely alliance in hopes of stopping Shadow and protecting the planet.
Heading into the weekend, Sonic 3 was tracking to $60 million in its domestic debut, while Mufasa was tracking for a $50 million debut. The Lion King sequel, however, is coming in behind expectations and could only open to $35 million domestically. It’s Friday of $13.3 million included $3.3 million in previews.
Disney believes Mufasa will pick up as the holiday corridor unfolds when weekdays are like Saturday or Sunday. It also has the advantage of playing across the Imax circuit and a large swath of other premium-large format auditoriums (the studio is pushing consumers to see the film in 3-D).
Overseas, Mufasa hopes to deliver a far better result this weekend with foreign ticket sales of $90 million overseas for a global start of $125 million (Sonic 3 won’t open offshore until next week). However, the film was expected to do notably more offshore, with pre-release tracking suggesting a debut of $125 million for a global bow of $180 million.
Mufasa is garnering better reviews so far than 2019’s The Lion King, which made north of $1 billion globally, but critics are definitely mixed. (It currently rests at 56 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, compared to 51 percent for the first one.) Audiences feel far different and gave the film an A- CinemaScore, while its Popcornmeter score is 88 percent. It is also earning steller PostTrak exits from kids and parents.
The Lion King, which opened in the summer of 2019, earned $23 million in previews on its way to a domestic opening north of $191 million.
Barry Jenkins directed the pic, with Lin-Manuel Miranda providing original songs. An origin movie, the music-infused Mufasa tells the tale of two young cubs (Mufasa and Taka) who form a fast bond and become as close as brothers before a threatening foe tests their bonds and forces them to embark on an adventure that will change their destinies and friendship.
Blending live-action filmmaking techniques with photoreal computer-generated imagery, the film’s voice cast includes Aaron Pierre, Kelvin Harrison Jr., John Kani, Tiffany Boone, Kagiso Lediga, Preston Nyman and Mads Mikkelsen, among many others.
Both Sonic and Mufasa are rated PG, a huge advantage in terms of playing to all quadrants of the audience.
Dec. 21, 7:30 a.m.: Updated with revised estimates.
This story was originally published at Dec. 20 at 8:47 a.m.
