Mufasa' leads box office

Prequel clawed back to top spot

LOS ANGELES:

Disney's Mufasa: The Lion King topped the North American box office on a long holiday weekend after ceding the top spot a week earlier, analysts said Sunday.

The animated film earned an estimated $15.5 million for the period from Friday to Monday, which is Martin Luther King Jr Day, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations said.

Two new releases – Sony's One of Them Days and Universal's Wolf Man – took over the second and third spots.

Analyst David A. Gross predicted a "very profitable run" for One of Them Days, which stars Keke Palmer and singer/songwriter SZA as roommates scrambling to pay rent or face eviction after a boyfriend spends their money.

The film earned an estimated $14 million over the holiday weekend.

"This is an excellent opening for an original Black American comedy," he said, boosted by "sensational critics reviews and an excellent audience score."

Horror film Wolf Man, starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, came in below analysts' expectations, with $12 million over four days.

As the start of a new horror series and as a remake of the 1941 classic starring Bela Lugosi, gross called the box office take "weak."

In fourth spot, down one spot from last weekend, was Paramount's animated Sonic the Hedgehog 3 at $10.3 million.

And in fifth, hanging strong in its eighth weekend out, was Moana 2 at $8.4 million.

Those numbers propelled the Disney blockbuster past the $1 billion mark globally. It is the studio's third 2024 release to hit the billion-dollar club after Deadpool and Wolverine and Inside Out 2.

Rounding out the top 10 were Den of Thieves 2: Pantera ($7.8 million), Nosferatu"($5.1 million), A Complete Unknown, ($4.6 million), Wicked, ($4.56 million), and Babygirl ($2.5 million). afp