Mufasa: The Lion King Box Office (North America): Thursday Previews Update(Photo Credit – YouTube)
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Mufasa: The Lion King’s opening does not look so hot after its weaker-than-expected Thursday previews. The animated sequel’s predicted debut weekend was already significantly lower than the 2019 blockbuster’s, and it seems to land below the projections as well. Scroll below for the deets.
The Disney movie is expected to lose the leading spot to Sonic the Hedgehog 3 as it has recorded a great collection from Thursday previews. It has earned over $6.5 million in the United States and is predicted to crush the industry’s projections. Mufasa is also facing Wicked and Moana 2 at the box office, and neither movie has shown any signs of slowing down. They will give tough competition to the new releases if they don’t have strong legs.
Based on the analysis by Luiz Fernando, Mufasa: The Lion King can underperform at the US box office on its opening weekend. The movie collected only $3.3 million from the Thursday previews at the box office in North America. According to the trade analyst’s report, it scored lower than Wonka’s $3.5 million but higher than Dwayne Johnson starrer Jungle Cruise’s $2.7 million.
The movie is now predicted to collect between $37-$42 million in its three-day debut weekend at the US box office. Previously, the animated feature was expected to collect between $47-$52 million in its debut weekend in the US. Meanwhile, the overseas projection is between $130 and $140 million in its 5-day opening. Therefore, it was projected to collect $177 million to $192 million during its global opening weekend. The Lion King, released in 2019, collected $191.77 million in its opening in North America alone. Mufasa will be nowhere near it.
However, Mufasa: The Lion King has better ratings on Rotten Tomatoes than the 2019 movie. The critics gave it 57%, while The Lion King has 51%. The audience rating for the latest release is also a good 88%. The critics summarised the film, saying, “Barry Jenkins’ deft hand and Lin-Manuel Miranda‘s music go some way towards squaring the Circle of Life in Mufasa, but this fitfully soulful story is ill-served by its impersonal, photorealistic animation style.”
Mufasa: The Lion King was released in the theatres on December 20.
Note: Box office numbers are based on estimates and various sources. Numbers have not been independently verified by Koimoi.
