Sonic the Hedgehog 3 did very well at the box office this weekend, earning $62 million in its opening. This is the second-best December start ever for a PG movie, just behind The Chronicles of Narnia in 2005.
This is a big win for Sonic 3, especially because it faced tough competition from Disney’s new movie, Mufasa: The Lion King. Mufasa did not do as well as expected, earning only $35 million in its opening.
Despite this, Disney is doing great overall, having made more than $5 billion worldwide in ticket sales this year, a record since before the pandemic.
Sonic 3 was expected to do well, but it did even better than thought. The movie, based on the popular Sega video game, saw families and regular moviegoers choose it over Mufasa. Earlier in the weekend, it looked like Sonic 3 might even hit $70 million, but many families were busy getting ready for Christmas.
The movie Sonic 3 features stars like Jim Carrey, Ben Schwartz, and Idris Elba, with Keanu Reeves joining as the character Shadow the Hedgehog. The movie has been well-received by both critics and audiences, earning a high score of 88% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and a perfect 98% from moviegoers.
The story follows Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails as they fight a powerful villain, Shadow the Hedgehog. They must team up with others to stop Shadow from causing harm.
On the other hand, Disney’s Mufasa (a prequel to The Lion King) did not perform as well as expected, especially internationally, where it earned $87 million instead of the expected $125 million. Despite the lower earnings, Mufasa has received better reviews than the 2019 Lion King movie, and it has strong support from audiences.
The movie tells the origin story of Mufasa and his brother Taka, showing their adventures and struggles. Directed by Barry Jenkins, Mufasa features songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda.