The Lion King In Thursday’s Box Office

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 takes the lead in the box office race against Mufasa.

Experts had predicted Paramount’s Sonic would earn about $60 million on opening weekend, where Disney’s Lion King prequel would land closer to $50.

With Thursday’s opening preview numbers in, the Blue Blur is off to a strong start, raking in $6.5 million, while Mufasa totalled $3.3M.

It’s a nice bounce back for theaters after Kraven opened to a paltry $2 million in previews and only $11 million for the weekend. Having two films that will quintuple that is good for the industry as a whole.

Sonic 3’s Preview Is Franchise Best

Forecasts have Sonic the Hedgehog 3 coming in below Sonic 2’s $72.1M weekend total. But Thursday’s $6.5M actually bested the previous installment’s $6.25M.

The $250K is a slim margin of victory, but it does show the continued interest in the franchise. Paramount feels confident enough that it has already announced Sonic the Hedgehog 4 for a spring 2027 release.

What’s Next For Sonic?

What direction the fourth film goes is anyone’s guess. The series started as simple as possible by focusing on Sonic vs. Robotnik. The second expanded to include Sonic’s primary allies, Tails and Knuckles, as well as the lore around Super Sonic. Sonic 3 has continued world building by bringing in popular fan favorite characters who are less known in the mainstream (like Shadow and Amy Rose).

If Paramount views this as the end of a trilogy, then Sonic 4 could look to refresh the setting, antagonist, cast, etc. Maybe Earth is no longer a focus and Sonic ends up traveling between worlds, mimicking the flow of the classic Genesis games as he travels through multiple levels. The success of Sonic Horizons could also serve as inspiration for a movie trilogy, leaning into the cosmic lore of the Ancients and the Starfall Islands.

Is There A Silver Lining For Mufasa?

I’m going to say a number that may shock you. The 2019 live-action remake of The Lion King did $23 million in Thursday previews. Twenty-three million! Its opening weekend of $191M is good for 10th all-time in the United States.

So for Mufasa to be down at $3.3 million, an 86% difference, it’s hard to find a silver living. If you can think of one, please leave it in the comments.

What’s Next For The Lion King franchise?

Mufasa isn’t just a prequel. It uses a frame narrative where Rafiki tells Kiara (the daughter of Simba and Nala) the story of her grandfather. I imagine Disney views Mufasa as a way to introduce Kiara and expand the lore of the franchise to really dive into some sequel material.

The original animated Lion King, from 1994, did have an inauspicious direct-to-video sequel in 1998: The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride. It’s one of those annoying sequels that rehashes a lot of the plot beats from the original. But that story focused on Kiara as a cub. It’s possible that Disney’s gearing up for a live-action version.

Lion King is such a powerful franchise that I could see Disney wanting to power through the box office of a prequel to test the earnings of an actual sequel.