What Went Wrong With Mufasa: The Lion King’s Opening Weekend? Breaking Down Its $35 Million Box Office

Disney’s highly anticipated prequel Mufasa: The Lion King A disappointing opening weekend and a lackluster start left many wondering what went wrong at the box office, when it looked like it was going to be a sure success. The follow-up to Disney’s box office juggernaut lion king Through lengthy flashbacks, the story of Mufasa’s youth and ascendance to the throne of the Pride Lands is told. Some familiar faces return, as the story is actually one that Rafiki tells Simba’s daughters, Timon and Pumbaa.

Unlike its predecessor, Mufasa: The Lion King The legend contains an original story lion king universe. With original songs directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Oscar-winning director Barry Jenkins, expectations were understandably high for one of Disney’s most expensive films of the past few years. Despite fixing one of them lion kingCritics and audiences are divided on the biggest flaw of more expressive animal animations mufasaUnfortunately, the opening weekend box office total was much lower than expected.

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Mufasa: The Lion King’s box office debut close to half of expectations

Prequel falls well short of most expectations

Scar and Mufasa touch heads in

according to deadlineearly November estimates suggest Mufasa: The Lion King The opening weekend is expected to generate healthy domestic box office totals; the most common range is $60-65 million. In this context, Mufasa: The Lion KingThe opening weekend was an unmitigated disaster, grossing just $35 million domestically the weekend before Christmas. There are countless reasons why any movie fails, but Disney has seen a huge resurgence at the box office recently, which makes mufasaThe low domestic total is even more striking.

Mufasa: ‘The Lion King’ also underperformed internationally on opening weekend

Its cap hit was more than $50 million less than forecast

Mufasa, Rafiki, Sarabi and Taka with their backs to the camera looking at the beautiful mountain scenery from The Lion King

Typically, movies (especially blockbusters) perform better overseas than in the U.S., which can be their saving grace in terms of profitability. Another Disney movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger TidesAlthough the domestic box office total was dismal, falling $130 million short of budget, the film grossed $1 billion worldwide. Unfortunately, this is not the case Mufasa: The Lion Kingas its global revenue was just $122 million. Preliminary forecast mufasaThe global opening weekend total was approximately $180 million, but the international box office was as disappointing as the domestic box office.

Mufasa: ‘The Lion King’ opening weekend is just a small part of ‘The Lion King’ 2019

The 2019 adaptation is one of the most successful family movies of all time

Mufasa: The Lion KingThe early box office failure looked even more dramatic than its predecessor. lion king The film premiered in 2019 and grossed $192 million in its domestic opening weekend, more than five times the amount of the 2024 prequel. lion king Ultimately, the film grossed an eye-popping $543.6 million domestically and an additional $1.113 billion from other countries around the world, bringing its total to over $1.6 billion. lion kingIts world premiere was particularly impressive, with its $446 million box office take placing it among the top ten films of all time.

The Lion King – Main Series Details

Movie

release date

Budget

box office total

RT Pomodoro Score

RT Popcorn Score

lion king

1994

$45 million

$978.8 million

93%

93%

lion king

2019

US$250-260 million

US$1.657 billion

51%

88%

Mufasa: The Lion King

2024

US$200 million

$125 million (and counting)

55%

88%

The final box office total is lion king The highest-grossing animated film of all time, it was just recently surpassed and lost that title Inside Out 2The total box office was US$1.69 billion. Mufasa: The Lion King open to only a small part lion kingWhatever the final box office total is, it will almost certainly be considered a disappointment for Disney.

Why is Mufasa so much worse than The Lion King?

Several factors combined for box office failure

In

Image via Disney

Despite high expectations, Mufasa: The Lion King From a box office perspective, there are actually a lot of factors working against it. First, it was released in theaters at a time when home theater competition was fierce. Popular latest issue Sonic the Hedgehog Series launched on the same day mufasawhich undoubtedly impacted its box office potential as families opted for one or the other. On top of that, there are quite a few holdovers from the other two giants moana 2 and evil.

2019 lion king As far as family movies go, the opening had little head-to-head competition; it came a full four weeks after Pixar’s toy story 4 More than two weeks after its release, Marvel released Spider-Man: Far From Home.

Mufasa: The Lion King It also has far less star power than its predecessor; nearly every character lion king Voiced by Hollywood A-listers including Beyoncé Knowles Carter, Donald Glover, John Oliver, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Seth Rogen and James Earl Jones, who will reprise their roles Mufasa. Some of the voice actors returned for brief cameos, while Timon and Pumbaa returned in earnest for the prequels. However, their presence is unnecessary and, frankly, out of place in the more serious narrative. Although the dubbing cast is very talented mufasa Yes, it lacks a household name lion king boasted.

The prequels also lack the pure nostalgia and interest of the original lion king. The 1994 animated version is one of the most beloved and famous animated films of all time, and many of the children and teenagers who grew up with the film are now parents. There’s an obvious appeal for audiences to see one of their favorite animated films brought to life on screen. mufasaOn the other hand, they don’t have the same emotional attachment and aren’t interested in the original story at all.

Will the box office recover after the release of “Mufasa: The Lion King”?

There’s still hope for Disney’s biggest holiday season movie

Despite the many reasons for failure so far, all hope is not lost Mufasa: The Lion King at the box office. While it may have had a lackluster opening weekend, its status as the best family movie in theaters during the last two weeks of December isn’t actually in serious danger. Children will be out of school and adults will be off work, leaving more time and opportunity to go to the theatre.

Taking advantage of the holidays, there is still plenty of time Mufasa: The Lion King Not only does it recoup its budget, it also becomes a legitimate source of profit for the Mouse House.

moana 2 and evil will spend another week out of the spotlight, and those families who may choose Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Exceed mufasa Of course it goes back to the Disney prequels. It seems likely that the final box office total will be Mufasa: The Lion King In the grand scheme of things, the film is still going to be a disappointment, as it’s going to be hard for the film to fully bounce back after such a rocky start. However, there’s still plenty of time for the movie to not only recoup its budget, but also become a legitimate source of profit for the Mouse House.

source: deadline

The Lion King Mufasa shows young Simba looking at adult Simba's reflection

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Mufasa: The Lion King is the prequel to the live-action remake of Disney’s original animated film “The Lion King.” The film will tell the story of Mufasa’s early years. Further plot details are currently being kept under wraps. The film will likely explore Mufasa and Scar’s relationship and how it became so strained. In the film, Timon and Pemba will return, with Billy Eicher and Seth Rogen reprising their roles.

Release date December 20, 2024

Film length: 118 minutes

Main types of adventure

Director Barry Jenkins

Screenwriters Jeff Nathanson, Linda Woolverton, Erin Meche, Jonathan Roberts

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