Monday, June 1, 2026

Box Office: Lion Cub Gored by Happy Hedgehog as “Sonic 3” Trounces “Mufasa”

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The lion slept this weekend.

“Mufasa,” a spin off of “The Lion King,” cost between $200 and $250 million.

The weekend take: $35 million.

Even worse “Mufasa” came in second to “Sonic the Hedgehog 3.” Ouch! “Sonic” made $62 million, trouncing “Mufasa.”

“Mufasa” will turn out to be one of Disney’s big flops. But they’ve had hits this year via their labels. “Deadpool and Wolverine” was a giant for Marvel, “Inside Out 2” was a massive hit for Pixar. So was “Moana 2.”

But “Mufasa” is a project no one really wanted. Also, the exploitation of “The Lion King” has finally registered with the audience. With the animated and live action films, and the eternal Broadway musical, it’s enough already.

Elsewhere, A24’s “The Brutalist” had a huge limited debut release. Will it have legs? We’ll see. A lot of indie movies like this open big but peter out. Who knows?

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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