Disney recently became the only studio to surpass $5 billion at the worldwide box office in 2024, led by the blockbuster successes of Deadpool & Wolverine, Inside Out 2, and Moana 2. Disney crossed the $5 billion milestone with the help of its most recent release, Mufasa: The Lion King, the photo-realistic animated prequel to The Lion King, the 2019 remake of the classic 1994 animated film of the same name.
Accompanied by lackluster critical reviews and released alongside Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Mufasa: The Lion King was trounced at the box office in its opening weekend of domestic release by Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which dominated the pre-Christmas weekend with a domestic gross of over $60 million, compared to just $35.4 million for Mufasa: The Lion King.
Based on this weak opening, Mufasa: The Lion King seemed poised to become a major flop. However, Mufasa: The Lion King fought back on Christmas Day when Mufasa: The Lion King led the domestic box office. This surprising box-office resurgence has changed the narrative surrounding Mufasa: The Lion King, which is now on pace to be merely a box-office disappointment instead of a financial disaster for Disney.
‘Mufasa: The Lion King’ Has Massively Under-Performed Disney’s ‘The Lion King’ Remake
Your changes have been saved
Release Date
December 20, 2024
Runtime
118 Minutes
In its opening weekend of domestic release, Mufasa: The Lion King was projected to gross $50 million, a far cry from the $191.7 domestic opening that the record-breaking The Lion King had in 2019. In addition to its disappointing $35.4 million domestic opening, Mufasa: The Lion King grossed an underwhelming $90.2 million at the overseas box office for a worldwide debut of $125.6 million, far below the $180 million worldwide projection.
In contrast, The Lion King had a $446 million worldwide debut in 2019, on its way to a total domestic gross of $543.6 million and a worldwide total of over $1.6 billion. The Lion King was the highest-grossing animated film of all time until September 2024, when it was overtaken by Inside Out 2. The Lion King, which generated nearly $600 million in net profit in its theatrical run, is one of the most profitable films of the past decade.
Related
Every Live-Action Disney Remake Coming After ‘Mufasa: The Lion King’
With a slew of animated features waiting to be remade, Disney live-action remakes are certainly here to stay.
With an estimated marketing cost of at least $100 million, along with its $200 production cost, Mufasa: The Lion King, which has a current worldwide gross of approximately $328 million, has to gross between $600 million and $650 at the worldwide box office just to reach its theatrical break-even point. To reach this threshold, Mufasa: The Lion King must follow the successful example of Wonka, which overcame an unspectacular $39 million domestic opening last holiday season to finish with a domestic gross of nearly $220 million and a worldwide total of over $630 million.
‘Mufasa: The Lion King’ Clawed Back Against ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’ Over Christmas
After being overrun by Sonic the Hedgehog 3 in its opening weekend of domestic release, Mufasa: The Lion King overtook Sonic the Hedgehog 3 on Christmas Day with a gross of $13 million, compared to $10.4 million for Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Mufasa: The Lion King also retained the top spot the day after Christmas, edging Sonic the Hedgehog 3 by $12 million to $11.5 million.
The uptick in business for Mufasa: The Lion King has been attributed to the enduring appeal of The Lion King franchise, strong pre-sales, and word-of-mouth growth, as while Mufasa: The Lion King has been a critical disappointment, the film presently holds an encouraging 88% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Moreover, Mufasa: The Lion King seems to have strong box-office legs. In its second weekend of domestic release, Mufasa: The Lion King grossed approximately $37 million, slightly above its opening weekend performance. For the five-day frame since Christmas Day, Mufasa: The Lion King grossed nearly $64 million, compared to just under $60 million for Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
The Box-Office Performance of ‘Mufasa: The Lion King’ Doesn’t Bode Well for ‘Snow White’
Like many Disney productions over the past five years, the release of Mufasa: The Lion King was preceded by a stream of negative publicity. The first trailer for Mufasa: The Lion King sparked audience outrage due to the prevalence of CGI, while longtime fans of The Lion King franchise have also objected to how Mufasa: The Lion King altered the franchise canon by changing the origin of the characters Mufasa and Scar.
The box-office failure of Mufasa: The Lion King, compared to the blockbuster success of The Lion King in 2019, is the latest proof that audiences have grown resentful of prequels and remakes of classic Disney animated films, as seen previously with the disappointing box-office performance of the live-action adaptations of Dumbo, The Little Mermaid, and Mulan.
Related
Disney Is Remaking a Classic Pirate Movie, and It’s Not ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’
Filmmaking duo Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz are teaming up with Disney for an “Australian surfer” take on a 75-year-old adventure classic.
The underwhelming response to Mufasa: The Lion King seems to be an especially bad omen for Snow White, the upcoming live-action re-imagining of Disney’s classic 1937 animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Of course, Snow White has been besieged by seemingly continuous controversy, as seen most recently when Snow White star Rachel Zegler alienated audiences with her condemnation of the more than 77 million people who voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 Presidential election.
With the growing aversion to live-action adaptations and Zegler’s presence, Snow White, which carries a reported production cost of $240 million, seems to have a much more difficult path to box-office success in 2025 than Mufasa: The Lion King does now. Mufasa: The Lion King is in theaters now.
You can view the original article HERE.
