The “Lion King” prequel lacks the bite of Disney’s previous live-action adaptations, despite “Mufasa” dominating the global box office.
The film, which is a prelude to the 2019 photorealistic “The Lion King” remake directed by Jon Favreau, made $87.2 million abroad and $122 million worldwide. Even while such ticket sales were sufficient to top the global box office charts, the movie fell well short of the $180 million and $130 million pre-release projections. In North America, “Mufasa” similarly fell short of expectations, opening to a mere $35 million and finishing second behind Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” ($62 million). It is not until December 25th that the third “Sonic” adventure opens at the international box office.
With $7.8 million initially, China was the largest market for “Mufasa,” followed by France ($7.7 million), Mexico ($7.1 million), and the United Kingdom ($5.5 million).
“Mufasa” is a prequel depicting the early years of the future ruler of the Pride Lands, directed by Barry Jenkins, best known for his Oscar-winning film Moonlight. It takes place before Favreau’s “The Lion King,” which, in spite of its mixed reviews, brought in a whopping $1.66 billion at the worldwide box office.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of “Hamilton,” composed the music for “Mufasa,” which also needs to get over so-so critical sentiments. Aaron Pierre and Kelvin Harrison Jr. provide the voices of Mufasa and Scar, respectively. Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Mads Mikkelsen, Billy Eichner, Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, and Blue Ivy Carter complete the glamorous group. Disney needs “Mufasa” to remain in theaters over the new year in order to justify its high price tag of over $200 million and to maintain the studio’s box office run of “Inside Out 2,” “Deadpool & Wolverine,” and “Moana 2.”
Over the weekend, “Moana 2” brought in an extra $32.8 million from 52 territories. Originally commissioned for streaming, the sequel has made $431 million internationally and $790.2 million worldwide, making it a box office success. It has the potential to become Disney’s third release of 2024 to surpass the $1 billion milestone.
Universal’s adaptation of “Wicked” has brought in an additional $12.6 million from 81 markets at the global box office. To date, the big-budget musical, which stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, has made $571 million internationally and $383 million domestically. After 2008’s “Mamma Mia,” it is currently the second-biggest Broadway remake globally ($611 million).
Over the weekend, Paramount’s “Gladiator II” earned $5.4 million, increasing its overseas tally to $262.3 million. With $416 million worldwide, the 25-year-old follow-up to Ridley Scott’s Oscar-winning epic “Gladiator” has made movie theater owners very happy. However, the movie won’t help Paramount, which invested over $250 million to get back into theaters, generate a profit.