UPDATE: 2025-06-06 08:03 EST BY BRENNAN KLEIN
Sonic Maintains Its 3-Day Lead While Mufasa Dominates 5-Day Holiday Weekend
This article was originally written Saturday AM and has been updated Sunday AM with up-to-date box office projections (in bold), a full chart, and further analysis.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3andMufasa: The Lion Kingare looking to both claim No. 1 at the box office in different ways whileNosferatutakes a clear lead among new releases. TheSonicsequel and theLion Kingprequel both opened the weekend before Christmas, with the former taking a clear lead by earning a domestic haul of $60.1 million compared to the latter’s $35.4 million. TheNosferaturemakearrived on Christmas Day to provide major competition, alongside the Bob Dylan biopicA Complete Unknown, the boxing dramaThe Fire Inside, and the erotic thrillerBabygirl.
PerDeadline, as of Sunday morning,Sonic the Hedgehog 3is projected to lead the traditional 3-day weekend whileMufasa: The Lion Kingclaims the 5-day holiday weekend.Sonicis projected to earn a 3-day total of$38 millionand a 5-day of$59.9 million, whileMufasaexpects a$37 million3-day with a 5-day of$63.7 million. While it may betoo soon to properly call a winner for the weekend, considering the fact thatSoniccollapsed over its debut Sunday, their staggered No. 1 status on the 3-day and 5-day charts will likely be cemented come Monday.
Meanwhile, among the incoming titles,Nosferatuis projected to be the highest-grossing new wide release. Its estimated$21.1 million3-day and$40.3 million5-day debut could still leave it neck and neck for No. 3 withWicked, which is trailing ever so slightly behind with $19.85 million and $32.1 million projections, though the horror movie maintains a strong lead. The second highest-grossing new release isA Complete Unknown, which is much further behind at No. 6 with$11.6 millionand$23 million. See the full Top 5 chart for the weekend below, ranked according to current 3-day projections:
1
Sonic the Hedgehog 3
$38 million
$59.9 million (No. 2)
$137.55 million (weekend 2)
2
$37 million
$63.7 million (No. 1)
$111.4 million (weekend 2)
3
$21.1 million
$40.3 million
$40.3 million (weekend 1)
4
$19.4 million
$31.7 million
$424.2 million (weekend 6)
5
$18.3 million
$28.3 million
$392.4 million (weekend 5)
WickedandMoana 2have remained on the Top 5 chart in their respective sixth and fifth weekends, with solid grosses that approach $20 million apiece and reflectweek-on-week growth of 37% and 39% respectively, which isn’t entirely unusual over the Christmas holiday. With onlyNosferatujoining the chart, there is only one departing movie. That would be Angel Studios’Homestead, which fell from No. 5 to No. 9 with a 3-day haul of $3 million at a 50% drop and a 5-day of $5.2 million.
The weekend’s other new releases have had rather quieter debuts. TheBabygirlreleasedebuted at No. 7 with a 3-day of $4.39 million and a 5-day of $7.2 million, whileThe Fire Insidetook No. 10 with $2 million and $4.33 million. However,they come with slimmer budgets of $20 million and $12 million respectivelycompared toNosferatu’s $50 million andA Complete Unknown’s roughly $70 million, so all the new releases should fare just fine as the holiday season continues, though the Dylan movie has a steeper hill to climb.
What This Means For The Christmas Box Office
Holdover Hits Are Dominating New Releases
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the post-Christmas weekend has largely been dominated by holdover hits. While the Top 10 has been cleared of lukewarm December tentpole releases such asKraven the HunterandThe Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, the titles that were smash hits over Thanksgiving - which includesGladiator IIin addition toWickedandMoana 2- are continuing to thrive, as are the more recent pre-Christmas titles. TheMufasareleaseis benefitting the most, asit has actually earned slightly more than its opening weekend, showing a strong hold despite its lukewarm debut.
Though it is still catching up withSonic the Hedgehog 3overall,Mufasawas No. 1 at the domestic box office on Christmas Day as well as the following day.
It makes sense that these older movies are triumphing over the cadre of new releases, as they are generallymore designed to appeal to family audiences than the adult-oriented Christmas Day titles, which are either genre movies, awards contenders, or both. However, it was not always a given thatNosferatuwould pull ahead of the other titles, as theComplete Unknowncastis led by major star Timothée Chalamet, whose holiday season releaseWonkawas one of the biggest hits of 2023.
GlowingNosferatureviewshave earned the movie a Certified Fresh Rotten Tomatoes score of 86%, which - along with its major Oscar buzz - is likely driving this intense interest in the new Robert Eggers movie. It isthe director’s best wide release debut by far, beating his previous genre moviesThe Witch($8.8 million),The Lightouse($3 million in its week 2 wide expansion), andThe Northman($12.3 million).
Our Take On The Weekend Box Office
Every Title Has A Chance To Shine
While the weekend has been dominated byNosferatu,Sonic the Hedgehog 3,Mufasa: The Lion King, and holdover Thanksgiving titles, smaller new releases likeBabygirlandThe Fire Insidestill have the chance to shine.There are no major new releases arriving over the next two weekends, so every wide release currently in theaters will have quite a bit of runway to attract audiences to theaters as the New Year approaches.
Cast
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 reunites Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails as they face a formidable new adversary, Shadow. With Shadow’s unprecedented powers posing a significant threat, Team Sonic seeks an unexpected alliance to thwart his plans and safeguard the planet.
Mufasa: The Lion King
Mufasa: The Lion King explores the origins of the beloved character Mufasa, focusing on his youth as a lost cub who encounters Taka, a royal heir. Their meeting initiates an epic journey of self-discovery and destiny, featuring a group of misfit companions navigating the challenges of their world.
Nosferatu
Nosferatu is a remake of the 1922 silent film of the same name from director F. W. Murnau. Robert Eggers is crafting his own version of the story for the reboot as writer and director, with Bill Skarsgård stepping into the shoes of Count Orlok. Nosferatu tells the tale of a young woman who falls victim to a vampire utterly infatuated with her.
