'Sonic 3' and 'Mufasa' battle for No. 1 at the holiday box office

This image released by Paramount Pictures and Sega of America shows Jim Carrey, as Ivo Robotnik, in a scene from "Sonic the Hedgehog 3." (Paramount Pictures and Sega of America, Inc. via AP)

Two family films dominated the holiday box office this week, with “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” winning the three-day weekend over “Mufasa” by a blue hair.

Paramount's Sonic movie earned US$38 million, while “Mufasa” brought in $37.1 million from theaters in the U.S. and Canada, according to studio estimates Sunday. On a normal weekend counting Friday, Saturday and Sunday ticket purchases, the winner would be somewhat clear. But when the Christmas holiday falls on a Wednesday as it did this year, the studios look at two sets of numbers: The five-day earnings and the three-day weekend earnings. With the five-day tally, The Walt Disney Co.'s “Mufasa” had the edge, bringing in $63.8 million.

It all adds up to a rather robust theatrical landscape, helped by the continued success of “Wicked” and “Moana 2,” which are on their sixth and fifth weekends, respectively.

The vampire horror “Nosferatu” also debuted fairly triumphantly. Robert Eggers’ modern reimagining of a 1922 silent film starring Nicholas Hoult and Lily-Rose Depp rose to the top of a starry batch of Christmas Day newcomers, which included the Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,” with Timothée Chalamet; the erotic drama “Babygirl” with Nicole Kidman; and “The Fire Inside,” about boxer Claressa Shields.

“Nosferatu” landed in third place with $21.2 million from the weekend and $40.3 million from its first five days. Not accounting for inflation, it had the best Christmas Day opening ever for a genre film, with $11.6 million (besting “The Faculty's” $4.4 million in 1998). Focus Features released the R-rated film in 2,992 theaters.

It was a gamble to open “Nosferatu” on Christmas, when family films or all-ages blockbusters tend to be prioritized. But it paid off, attracting the coveted 18 to 34-year-old demographic to theaters.

“It was a risky move, but we knew that we had such a great film,” said Lisa Bunnell, who leads distribution for Focus Features. “A lot of people thought we were insane. But I think the more that people thought we were crazy, the more we all felt like it was the right thing to do.”

The response to the unconventional counter-programming was gratifying. The sarcophagus-inspired popcorn buckets are even reselling for over $100.

“People keep talking about ‘how do we get people back into the movies?’ I think the only way you can get people to go back is to shake it up,” Bunnell said. “You don’t just spoon feed them the same things over and over again.”

The Bob Dylan movie, directed by James Mangold, also got off to a bright start with $11.6 million over the weekend and $23.2 million since Christmas. The 5-day total is a record for Searchlight Pictures since Disney acquired the company in early 2019. It's been well received by both critics (96 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences (A on CinemaScore) and will likely get more of a boost from the awards race.

“Babygirl,” an A24 release from filmmaker Halina Reijn, played on 2115 screens, earning $4.4 million over the weekend and $7.2 million since Christmas. The film stars Kidman as a married, buttoned-up CEO who begins an affair with a young intern at the company, played by Harris Dickinson. Kidman won the best acting prize for her performance at the Venice Film Festival.

“The Fire Inside,” from Amazon MGM Studios, meanwhile got a bit lost in the mix despite strong reviews. It has earned a total of $4.3 million, with $2 million coming from weekend showings where it played in 2006 theaters.

Thanksgiving releases continued to perform well through the Christmas timeframe. Fourth place went to “Wicked,” which earned another $19.5 million, bringing its domestic total to $424.2 million. On Tuesday, the lavish movie musical will also be available to rent or purchase at home. It’s a move that has drawn some critics who believe making it available at home after only 40 days in theaters will cannibalize profits.

“Moana 2” rounded out the top five films this weekend with $18.2 million. The Disney movie has made $882.5 million globally and is closing in on $400 million domestically.

Christmas Day itself was massive for the industry, with $61 million in ticket sales. Thursday was nearly as big, with $50 million.

“Every day was like Saturday at the box office because of the way the holidays lined up," said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore's senior media analyst.

Comscore is projecting that the year will net out with about $8.75 billion in domestic box office receipts. That's down about 3.3% from last year, which cracked $9 billion, and the pre-pandemic normal of $11 billion.