Box Office Report: The Hedgehog King

The year is coming to an end, and we see how one of the biggest weekends of the box office played out over the festive season. Going to the cinema is a perennially popular option for many people over the holidays. There were two major family movies fighting for attention alongside a horny adult horror movie, a horny adult drama, a musical biopic, and some big favourites of the past few weeks.

Over Christmas, the battle was between Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Mufasa: the Lion King. Here, we had two big family movies based on popular IPs, a sequel, and a prequel with established fanbases. Usually, Disney would be considered the safe bet here, especially for a Lion King-related movie, but audiences disagreed. In the end, for two weeks running, Sonic 3 won. Why? Well, Mufasa received pretty tepid reviews, and there was a sense among many that it felt unnecessary. Were we really aching to see how Mufasa and Scar fell out? Jealousy over succession rights felt like a solid enough reason for their rivalry, you know? The remake of The Lion King was a mega hit but that was because it was a remake of one of the most beloved animated films ever made. Mufasa was new and unfamiliar.

So, the blue hedgehog and his pals, who now include Keanu Reeves, made $137.5 million over the past two weeks, compared to the $113.4 million of Mufasa. That’s hardly chump change for Disney, of course, but Sonic 3 had a budget of $122 million and Mufasa reportedly cost $200 million. Don’t write it off as a disaster just yet. It’s still made about $328 million worldwide so far, and January is a dry season with opportunity for slow-burn growth. Disney will never stop remaking its classics. This is the world we live in.

Debuting at number three is Nosferatu, Robert Eggers’ remake of the horror classic. Counter-programming to family fare can have mixed results but it paid off over Christmas as plenty of people chose vampires over hedgehogs and lions. Over its extended opening weekend, it earned $40.3 million, a new high for Eggers. Vampires are so back!

The holiday boost paid off for both Wicked (37.4% increase from the previous weekend) and Moana 2 (37.8% jump), and both those movies are comfortably some of the highest grossers of 2024. Wicked, with $634.3 million to its name, has now earned more worldwide than Kung Fu Panda 4 and Venom: The Last Dance.

At number six is A Complete Unknown, the Bob Dylan biopic. Everyone’s dad went to see this one and it made $23.1 million over the holiday break. That bodes well for Timothee Chalamet’s Oscar campaign.

Right behind that is Babygirl, Nicole Kidman’s erotic drama which has not been an easy sell to audiences. It’s made about $7.2 million in the U.S. so far, which isn’t terrible for a film like this where the Discourse was written long before anyone saw it. It’s one of my favourite films of 2024 so I hope it finds its audience.

The Robbie Williams chimp biopic Better Man opened to only six theatres this past week and earned $18,391 from six theatres. So, apparently there are at least a few people on the other side of the pond who have actually heard of Robbie Williams. Do they think he’s actually a chimpanzee? So many questions…

In other limited release news: the horror film Bloody Axe Wound earned $45,000 from 237 locations; the Italian drama Vermiglio brought in $8,450 in one cinema; the speculative documentary 2073 earned $5,115 from two locations; and the Indian drama Santosh grossed $5,100 from one place.

The coming week brings with it the release of, well, not much. Happy New Year!

You can check out the rest of the weekend box office here.