Disney received a fact-check on the social media platform X when it falsely declared Mufasa, prequel to The Lion King, the “#1 movie in America” over Sonic 3.
As Breitbart News chronicled throughout December, the third sequel in the Sonic movie franchise continued to dominate the box office, regularly beating out Mufasa, a prequel to a beloved IP.
In the holiday season battle of big-budget family movies, Paramount Pictures’ “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” sped past the Walt Disney Co.’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” to take the top spot at the box office ahead of the lucrative Christmas corridor in theaters.
“Sonic the Hedgehog 3” debuted with $62 million in ticket sales over the weekend, according to studio estimates. With strong reviews (86% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and a high score from audiences (an “A” on CinemaScore), “Sonic 3” is well positioned to be the top choice in cinemas during the busiest moviegoing period of the year.
It was telling of some wider trends that “Sonic 3” — made for $122 million — bested one of Disney’s top properties. Videogame adaptations, once among the most derided movie genres, have emerged as one of the most dependable box office forces in recent years. The two previous “Sonic” movies together grossed more $700 million worldwide and the third installment appears likely to do better than both of them. A fourth “Sonic” movie is already in development.
Despite these sobering numbers for Mufasa, Walt Disney Studios still decided to declare it the “#1 movie in America” on its official X account, which received a fact-check from community notes.
“Mufasa: The Lion King is now the #1 movie in America, and the #1 movie in the world, two weeks in a row! See it now, only in theaters!” declared Walt Disney Studios.
“That’s not true. Sonic 3 is still the #1 movie in America,” X community notes responded before sharing a link to box office reports on IMDB.
#Mufasa: The Lion King is now the #1 movie in America, and the #1 movie in the world, two weeks in a row! 🦁 See it now, only in theaters! pic.twitter.com/bPIi9DBQWP
— Walt Disney Studios (@DisneyStudios) December 29, 2024
Sonic 3 also received generally more favorable reviews from critics with a surprising 88 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes while Mufasa only received a tepid 55 percent.
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