As a movie enthusiast who has witnessed the rise and fall of many film franchises, I must say that the box office performance of “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” is nothing short of impressive. The film’s success story is a testament to how a beloved video game character can capture hearts on the big screen, especially when backed by positive reviews and strong audience scores.
As a cinephile, I’ve got to say that Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is storming through the box office, leaving Mufasa: The Lion King in the dust during its debut weekend.
The third installment of Paramount’s “Sonic” series debuted at the top spot, earning an impressive $62 million from 3,761 North American cinemas. The film has been bolstered by positive reviews and high audience scores, surpassing initial expectations of $55-$60 million, indicating that it will likely continue to be a successful holiday choice throughout the upcoming year. Interestingly, “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” was predicted to have a lower opening than its predecessors but instead opened above the original 2020 release (“Sonic the Hedgehog”, $58 million) and just below the 2022 sequel ($72 million), marking a new series high.
Disney’s “Mufasa” prequel to “The Lion King,” titled simply as “Mufasa,” had a less-than-expected debut, pulling in $35 million from 4,100 cinemas worldwide. This falls significantly short of the anticipated $50 million, raising concerns about its performance given the production and promotional costs exceeding $200 million and $100 million respectively. Despite receiving mixed reviews, the film has some promising aspects such as a good audience response, with an “A-” rating from CinemaScore. December releases are typically known for modest openings, but if word-of-mouth is positive, they can sustain their success into January and beyond. For instance, Sony’s “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” started with a $36 million opening in 2017 but went on to earn an impressive $404 million domestically and $962 million globally. However, “Mufasa” is unlikely to reach such box office figures. The film’s international performance also fell short of expectations, earning $87.2 million, contributing to a global opening of $122.2 million.
Titled “Sonic the Hedgehog 3”, this upcoming movie has a production budget of $122 million and won’t hit international screens until Christmas. Director Jeff Fowler is back at the helm, with Ben Schwartz reprising his role as the voice of Sonic, the swift blue hedgehog known for taking down bad guys. Joining him are Jim Carrey, returning to portray Sonic’s nemesis Doctor Robotnik – a mad scientist bent on world domination. The plot finds Sonic, along with friends Tails and Knuckles, embarking on a quest to thwart a new enigmatic enemy, Shadow the Hedgehog. The film received an “A” rating from CinemaScore and boasts an 86% average score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The ‘Sonic’ film franchise has established itself as a lucrative new venture for Paramount. The initial two films have amassed a collective $725 million at the worldwide box office, and have sparked over $180 million in consumer spending from home entertainment rentals and digital purchases. This property, derived from the well-known Sega video game series, has also led to the creation of a Paramount+ spinoff series titled ‘Knuckles,’ which premiered earlier this year. At present, a fourth film is being developed for release in 2027.
For the past five years, ‘Sonic’ has transformed into a widely appealing five-quadrant film, attracting audiences from various age groups and genders. This includes younger and older females, younger and mature males, as well as families. According to David A. Gross, who heads Franchise Entertainment Research, this movie is striking all the right chords.
Over the holiday season, there’s a chance that “Mufasa” could regain popularity, suggesting that audiences might be growing weary of Disney’s continuous live-action adaptations of their classic animated films. The remakes of “The Jungle Book,” “The Lion King,” “Beauty and the Beast,” and “Aladdin” were significant commercial successes, but movies like “Mulan,” “Dumbo,” and “The Little Mermaid” either struggled or failed to meet expectations in cinemas. Disney still plans to release two more remakes in 2025 – “Snow White” in March and “Lilo & Stitch” in May. In addition, fresh takes on “Moana” and “Tangled” are among the upcoming adaptations in development.
Barry Jenkins, the acclaimed director of “Moonlight” and “If Beale Street Could Talk,” is directing “Mufasa,” a prequel to Jon Favreau’s 2019 photorealistic remake of “The Lion King.” The film boasts music by Lin-Manuel Miranda and stars Aaron Pierre and Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Mufasa and Scar, alongside Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Mads Mikkelsen, and Blue Ivy Carter. Despite mixed reviews, the 2019 remake had a successful debut, generating $191 million in the summer, and ultimately amassing a whopping $1.66 billion at the global box office.
According to Gross, the audience seems to enjoy the film, and it’s worth noting that family-oriented animations have demonstrated remarkable staying power in 2022. However, this saga isn’t over just yet. In fact, this is a prequel story, which often starts off more gradually than subsequent installments might.
Cinema operators are crossing their fingers that business will pick up, as overall domestic box office sales are still lagging by 4.3% compared to this year and a significant 23% below the numbers from 2019, as reported by Comscore. The holiday season seems less lively than typical with mature-audience films such as “A Complete Unknown,” the remake of “Nosferatu” from Focus Features, and “Babygirl,” an erotic thriller from A24, being the only new releases scheduled for Christmas Day.
Prior to that, the box office rankings were completed by Universal’s “Wicked” (November release), Disney’s “Moana 2”, and Paramount’s “Gladiator II” in their respective November showings.
In a third-place finish, “Wicked” earned $13.5 million at 3,296 cinemas, boosting its domestic total to $383.91 million and global earnings to $571 million following five weekends of release. Interestingly, it edged out “Moana 2” by a small margin, with the latter bringing in $13.1 million from 3,600 theaters during its fourth weekend. To date, “Moana 2” has amassed $359 million in North America.
As a passionate movie enthusiast, I was excited to see “Gladiator II” continue its run, but it slid down six spots to number 6 this weekend, earning $4.45 million from 2,397 theaters. Domestically, it now stands at an impressive, yet somewhat disappointing total of $153 million for me as a viewer.
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2024-12-22 19:16