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On Sunday, Exhibitor Relations, a trade watchdog, said that Disney’s animated epic “Mufasa: The Lion King“ dominated the North American box office this weekend, beating “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” to begin the new year with an estimated $23.8 million.
Variety stated that the performance vaulted “Mufasa” into the top 15 of 2024 releases, grossing $168.6 million domestically over three weekends.
The film, directed by Barry Jenkins, seems set to surpass the half-billion-dollar milestone with an extra $307 million garnered abroad.
As the year-end Christmas season concluded in the US and Canada, “Sonic,” the Paramount action comedy about a swift blue hedgehog, saw a little slowdown in box office receipts, earning $21.2 million for the Friday–Sunday block.
The gaming movie has already made $333.5 million from $187.5 million in domestic ticket sales and $148 million overseas.
Third place went to Focus Film’s vampire film “Nosferatu,” the most recent adaptation of the silent classic from 1922 based on Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.” It made $13.2 million.
The Disney smash “Moana 2” dropped one spot from the previous weekend, earning $12.4 million.
Its $960 million total ticket sales, which include $425 million domestic and $535 million worldwide, put it in the running to surpass “Despicable Me 4” ($969 million) as the third highest-grossing film of 2024 and get it close to the $1 billion mark.
Fifth place went to Universal’s musical fantasy “Wicked,” which fell one spot from the previous weekend. Even after being made accessible for on-demand video viewing, this most recent adaptation of the fantastical realm of Oz sold $10.2 million worth of tickets.
The following completed the top 10:
“A Complete Unknown” ($8.1 million)
“Babygirl” ($4.5 million)
“Gladiator II” ($2.7 million)
“Homestead” ($2.1 million)
“The Fire Inside” ($1.2 million)
