Box Office Battle: ‘Mufasa’ wins Christmas holiday, but ‘Sonic 3’ takes weekend

“Box Office Battle” is The Fly’s weekly roundup of what movies topped the weekend’s box office.

The holiday season has two winners this year. Disney’s (DIS) “Mufasa: The Lion King” won the five-day holiday stretch with $63.8M, while Paramount’s (PARA) “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” grossed $38M for the three-day weekend versus $37.1M for The Lion King sequel. “Sonic 3” sports a franchise-best critics score of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes and has earned an A CinemaScore.

BOX OFFICE RUNNER-UPS: Focus Features’ “Nosferatu” placed number 3 with a $21.2M debut. Behind it was Comcast (CMCSA) subsidiary Universal’s “Wicked” with another $19.5M for a global tally of $634.4M as it became the top grossing stage musical adaptation of all time. Rounding out the top five, Disney’s “Moana” grossed an estimated $18.2M for the three-day weekend.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE:

1. “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” – $38M
2. “Mufasa: The Lion King” – $37.1M
3. “Nosferaty” – $21.2M
4. “Wicked” – $19.5M
5. “Moana 2” – $18.2M

Other publicly traded companies in filmmaking include Warner Bros. (WBD), Sony (SONY), Lionsgate (LGF.B), Amazon (AMZN), and Apple (AAPL).