Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” — the prequel to the hugely popular 2019 live-action remake  “Lion King” — struggled at the holiday box office on its opening weekend, falling to Paramount’s “Sonic” sequel.

Coming in second place behind “Sonic The Hedgehog 3” was the highly anticipated backstory to the “Lion King,” which made $35 million at the domestic box office, falling well behind its pre-release expectations of $50 million, Variety noted. It comes after Disney spent more than $200 million to make the film and another $100 million in worldwide promotions. 

“Sonic,” on the other hand, earned a total of $62 million from moviegoers — and cost $122 million to make — according to the Hollywood Reporter. 

“As we’ve seen this franchise’s audience grow, we saw a window in the marketplace in December where we thought we could stand out,” Paramount’s president of domestic distribution Chris Aronson said. “We’ve been able to accomplish that. ‘Sonic’ is going to dominate through the holidays.”

“Mufasa” also struggled globally, earning $87 million after being projected to earn well over $120 million, Variety noted. In comparison, the 2019 “Lion King” had a domestic opening weekend of $191 million, per Box Office Mojo. 

Taking over third place was Universal’s “Wicked,” which has made $383.9 million since it opened before Thanksgiving holiday.

Disney also occupies the fourth spot at the box office with the sequel to “Moana,” earning another $13 million to bring the total to $359 million at the domestic box office.

Rounding out the fifth spot in the top 5 comes the apocalyptic thriller “Homestead” from Angel Studios” — the same studio that brought the sleeper hit “Sound Of Freedom” to the big screen in 2022. “Homestead” earned $6 million over the film’s opening weekend, THR noted.

Some have suggested the poor showing for “Mufasa” could be a sign of things to come for future live-action adaptations from Disney and could signal trouble ahead for its upcoming live action “Snow White,” Variety noted.

The star of “Snow White” Rachel Zegler, a vocal left-wing activist, made headlines — and faced backlash — after she described the prince as a “stalker” and made it clear the live-action story she was part of would have nothing in common with the “weird” original love story from 1937.

Months later in an interview for Variety with fellow Disney actress Halle Bailey, Zegler appeared to sing a different tune when she gushed over the original “Snow White” as “a monumental moment in film history,” and said she “loves everything the Disney company has put out” since its inception.

Following Zegler’s remarks bashing the original film, The Daily Wire’s kids entertainment company Bentkey announced it would make a live-action film titled “Snow White and the Evil Queen,” starring YouTube sensation Brett Cooper.

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Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” — the prequel to the hugely popular 2019 live-action remake  “Lion King” — struggled at the holiday box office on its opening weekend, falling to Paramount’s “Sonic” sequel.

Coming in second place behind “Sonic The Hedgehog 3” was the highly anticipated backstory to the “Lion King,” which made $35 million at the domestic box office, falling well behind its pre-release expectations of $50 million, Variety noted. It comes after Disney spent more than $200 million to make the film and another $100 million in worldwide promotions. 

“Sonic,” on the other hand, earned a total of $62 million from moviegoers — and cost $122 million to make — according to the Hollywood Reporter. 

“As we’ve seen this franchise’s audience grow, we saw a window in the marketplace in December where we thought we could stand out,” Paramount’s president of domestic distribution Chris Aronson said. “We’ve been able to accomplish that. ‘Sonic’ is going to dominate through the holidays.”

“Mufasa” also struggled globally, earning $87 million after being projected to earn well over $120 million, Variety noted. In comparison, the 2019 “Lion King” had a domestic opening weekend of $191 million, per Box Office Mojo. 

Taking over third place was Universal’s “Wicked,” which has made $383.9 million since it opened before Thanksgiving holiday.

Disney also occupies the fourth spot at the box office with the sequel to “Moana,” earning another $13 million to bring the total to $359 million at the domestic box office.

Rounding out the fifth spot in the top 5 comes the apocalyptic thriller “Homestead” from Angel Studios” — the same studio that brought the sleeper hit “Sound Of Freedom” to the big screen in 2022. “Homestead” earned $6 million over the film’s opening weekend, THR noted.

Some have suggested the poor showing for “Mufasa” could be a sign of things to come for future live-action adaptations from Disney and could signal trouble ahead for its upcoming live action “Snow White,” Variety noted.

The star of “Snow White” Rachel Zegler, a vocal left-wing activist, made headlines — and faced backlash — after she described the prince as a “stalker” and made it clear the live-action story she was part of would have nothing in common with the “weird” original love story from 1937.

Months later in an interview for Variety with fellow Disney actress Halle Bailey, Zegler appeared to sing a different tune when she gushed over the original “Snow White” as “a monumental moment in film history,” and said she “loves everything the Disney company has put out” since its inception.

Following Zegler’s remarks bashing the original film, The Daily Wire’s kids entertainment company Bentkey announced it would make a live-action film titled “Snow White and the Evil Queen,” starring YouTube sensation Brett Cooper.

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