Christmas moviegoers visited the Pride Lands in force over the holidays, propelling Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” to the top of the charts. The family friendly adventure dominated ticket sales, earning $14.7 million to capture the box office crown. That pushed its domestic tally to $64.3 million. Globally, the prequel to “The Lion King” has earned $197.7 million after adding $18.8 million from international markets on Wednesday. Stateside, the film is on pace to generate more than $50 million over the five-day holiday frame.
Focus Features’ “Nosferatu,” a blood-soaked horror film about a Dracula-like vampire, catered to very different crowds than “Mufasa,” while capturing second place on its opening day with $11.5 million. The movie is directed by Robert Eggers, who oversaw arthouse favorites like “The Witch” and “The Lighthouse.” Its ensemble includes rising stars like Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Bill Skarsgård and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, along with veterans such as Willem Dafoe. It has a sizable budget of $50 million, so it needs to keep succeeding as a gory bit of Christmas season counter-programming to justify its cost.
Speeding in at No. 3, Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” which had topped the weekend box office, ceded ground to “Mufasa.” The latest entry in the film franchise earned $10.3 million on Wednesday from more than 3,700 North American theaters, bringing its domestic haul to $88 million. Paramount feels there’s more life in this spiky haired hedgehog, having recently given the go-ahead to another sequel that will open in 2027. “Sonic” is based on a Sega video game series, which has been around since the early ’90s.
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In fourth place, Searchlight’s Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,” premiered on Wednesday with $7.2 million, which included $1.4 million from Tuesday previews. The film, which stars Timothee Chalamet as the freewheelin’ music legend and was directed by James Mangold, who oversaw the Johnny Cash biopic “Walk the Line,” has earned rave reviews and Oscar buzz. It is expected to bring in $22 million over its fist five days. It reportedly cost between $60 million to $70 million, a tidy sum for a movie aimed at adults. There’s reason to be optimistic it may able to defy the odds and turn a profit. Musical biopics, like “Bob Marley: One Love,” “Elvis” and “Bohemian Rhapsody” have been a reliable genre and it helps that Chalamet has become a box office draw thanks to hits such as “Wonka” and “Dune: Part Two.” Every time he shows up at a screening, it goes viral.
Universal’s “Wicked” rounded out the top five, earning $5.4 million on Christmas. The film, an adaptation of a popular Broadway musical, has been one of the year’s biggest hits. It has earned $397.9 million domestically since opening just before Thanksgiving.
In addition to “A Complete Unknown,” the holiday season is hosting a number of awards contenders. A24’s “Babygirl,” an erotic drama with Nicole Kidman that has critics reaching for the superlatives, earned $1.5 million on Wednesday after opening on just over 2,000 screens. Halina Reijn directed “Babygirl,” which also stars Harris Dickinson and Antonio Banderas. A24 has a busy Christmas. The indie studio is also fielding “The Brutalist,” a 3-hour historical epic that stars Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones and was directed by Brady Corbet, a former child actor turned auteur. It earned $74,965 from six theaters. That brings its domestic gross to $429,580. “The Brutalist” opened in limited release last weekend.
Among the newcomers, Amazon MGM Studios’ “The Fire Inside,” an inspirational sports drama about American professional boxer Claressa “T-Rex” Shields, opened to $1.7 million from from 2,006 theaters in North America on Wednesday. It is expected to earn just over $6 million in its first five days. Rachel Morrison, the Oscar-nominated cinematographer of “Mudbound,” makes her directorial debut with Ryan Destiny and Brian Tyree Henry leading the cast.