Sonic 3 Just Can’t Wait to Be King of the Box Office

Mufasa is falling once again, this time being pushed over by Sonic the Hedgehog. Okay, just metaphorically, because no one needs to relive the trauma of that scene all over again. But unfortunately for the big cat, a tiny but sassy hedgehog is a mile ahead of the pre-Christmas box office race. Here’s how the leaderboard is looking up against Paramount Pictures’s Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Disney’s Mufasa.

Saturday leaderboard:

December 21, 2024: Sorry to the big cats, but it looks like the hedgehog is zooming past and collecting a lot of rings. As of Saturday, Sonic 3 is estimated to earn $70 million over the three-day weekend, in contrast to Mufasa’s $36-38 million estimate. The former is earning almost double what the prequel is set to earn despite reportedly costing half as much to make— CGI lions aren’t cheap. However, Mufasa might have an advantage internationally for the next few days, as Sonic 3 doesn’t open until after Christmas in other markets; at the time, the live-action Lion King had the largest global opening for an animated movie so maybe international audiences will be more excited to see how the cub became the king.