Last weekend, many people were quick to abandon Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King,” which lost out to Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” but as the holidays were over and more families were visiting, Wednesday The situation changed completely.
Mufasa topped the charts on Christmas Day with $15 million, followed by director Robert Egger’s star-studded vampire flick Nosferatu with $11.6 million and Sonic 3 with $10.7 million.
Horror-fantasy Nosferatu is on track to take third place after Mufasa and Sonic, earning up to $40 million in five days and surpassing expectations (a win would be a win if it exceeds $20 million). Modeling is difficult in the early stages of the game and predictions for every movie can change. Eggers’ film also stars Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, and Bill Skarsgard.
Mufasa is expected to gross more than $50 million in five days, and Sonic 3 is targeting $50 million as well (most rivals are leading Mufasa at this stage). Through Wednesday, the film has grossed just under $200 million at the worldwide box office.
Other titles will continue to roll out around the country on Christmas Day, with potential winners in particular hoping to take advantage of the long five-day weekend (Wednesday through Sunday) as 2024 draws to a close. Overall, the end of the year was good news for the box office, with year-on-year deficits narrowing from 11% in mid-November to 4% now. The huge success started on Thanksgiving with the powerful combo of Moana 2, Wicked, and Gladiator II.
Timothée Chalamet’s critically acclaimed “Complete Unknown” grossed a whopping $7.2 million on Wednesday as older moviegoers flocked to see the Bob Dylan biopic. The Golden Globe-nominated film from Searchlight Pictures has the potential to earn up to $22 million or more in five days, and is off to a strong start with a follow-up on the horizon.
A24’s Oscar-nominated “Babygirl,” starring Nicole Kidman, is on track to gross $7 million in five days after earning $1.7 million on Wednesday. Distributor A24 is also handling awards frontrunner “The Brutalist,” but the film has avoided a national release in favor of a traditional platform rollout, debuting in six locations this weekend.
Amazon-MGM Studios’ A Fire Inside, written by Mufasa director Barry Jenkins, is aiming for a $6 million opening in five days.
