Earlier this week, in my box office predictions, I wrote that Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King had next to no hope of beating Sonic the Hedgehog 3 at the weekend box office. It looks like I was right, with Deadline reporting that Sonic 3 has blasted off with a $6.5 million preview night, which represents the best number for the franchise so far. By comparison, Mufasa only made about half that number, with a $3.3 million total.

So far Sonic the Hedgehog seems to be performing in line with expectations, although it’s not expected to outgross the second film’s first weekend take of $72 million. However, that has little to do with anticipation cooling for the film, as audiences typically save their moviegoing for the holidays, with the weekend before Christmas never really a juggernaut. However, Mufasa seems to be in trouble, with it looking like the anticipated $50 million start is out of the question now, with an opening in the $30 million range more likely. However, last year’s Christmas sleeper, Wonka, opened with the same result and went on to have tremendous legs at the box office, grossing over $200 million domestically. But, even if Mufasa ended up making that much, it would still be far less than its predecessor, which made over $540 million domestically.

No news yet on how well Kraven is holding up in week two, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted as the weekend goes on. In the meantime, check out our Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review HERE and some of the interviews we did at the junket embedded below!

What are you seeing this weekend? Let us know in the comments!

The post Sonic the Hedgehog 3 races to a franchise-best preview with $6.5M while Disney’s Mufasa returns to the Pride Lands with $3.3M appeared first on JoBlo.