Box Office: ‘Mufasa’ leads with $23.8M, while ‘Sonic 3’ takes second as the franchise surpasses $1B globally

Meanwhile, Golden Globe best picture contenders like 'Wicked,' 'A Complete Unknown,' and 'The Brutalist' gain momentum ahead of Sunday's show.

After a close holiday battle with Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King safely pulled ahead to win the first weekend of the new year with $23.8 million as the film’s domestic total climbed to $168.6 million. Overseas, it raced past the $300 million mark to finish Sunday with a global total of $476.4 million, News.Az citing the HollywoodReporter.

Sonic 3 is certainly no slouch, and it followed Mufasa in second place this weekend with $21.2 million for a domestic total of $187.5 million. Additionally, Paramount announced Sunday that the marquee franchise, based on the Sega video game, has crossed the $1 billion mark in worldwide tickets sold. The threequel has been a huge crowd pleaser after adding Keanu Reeves to the star-studded cast, led by Jim Carrey.

Robert Eggers and Focus Features’ holiday vampire pic Nosferatu placed third with $13.2 for a pleasing domestic tally of $69.4 million in its second weekend. The pic was among several films opening nationwide on Christmas Day; Sonic 3 and Mufasa opened on Dec. 20 and are now in their third weekends.

Nosferatu has done far better than expected and boasts one of the best showings ever for a horror pic opening at Christmas. The male-skewing movie stars Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult and Bill Skarsgard.

Disney took fourth place domestically with its hit Thanksgiving film Moana 2, which earned $12.4 million in its sixth outing as it prepares to join the billion-dollar box office club. The animated pic has earned $425.2 domestically and $553.3 million overseas for a domestic total of $960.5 million through Sunday.

Universal’s Golden Globes nominee Wicked rounded out the top five with $10.2 million for a domestic total of $450.7 million.

Disney’s specialty division Searchlight Pictures is also smiling. Timothée Chalamet’s critically acclaimed A Complete Unknown, another Globes best picture contender, continues to exceed expectations after opening Dec. 25. It placed sixth for the weekend with $8.1 million for a domestic cume of $41.7 million. The film earned a perfect A CinemaScore from audiences (so far, the movie is skewing female and older) and marks Searchlight’s top-grossing film since it was acquired by Disney.

A24’s much-buzzed-about awards hopeful Babygirl, starring Nicole Kidman, placed No. 7 in its second weekend with an estimated $4.5 million for a domestic total of $16.1 million (Kidman is up for a best acting Globe). A24 also has Globe best picture nominee The Brutalist, which bypassed a nationwide release in favor of a traditional platform rollout. The Adrien Brody-starrer, which upped its location count to eight locations in its second outing, has already earned $1.2 million.

News.Az