Box office: Vaiana 2 close to a billion dollars in revenue, Sonic 3 is heading towards success
The Sonic 3 and Moana 2 films. © Paramount Pictures / The Walt Disney Company
The American box office has just revealed the first winners of 2025, with the results of its first weekend of operation of the year. Results in line with those of the holidays, and which saw Mufasa And Sonic 3 fight for the crown, while Moana 2 And Wicked continue to rake in the dollars. We take stock.
Mufasa (finally) in front Sonic
Although he had started significantly less well than Sonic 3, Mufasa: The Lion King has just taken the lead in the US box office rankings from the blue hedgehog during its third weekend of release. With 23.8 million dollars earned, the live-action Disney film is now flirting with 170 million in the United States, and with 500 million worldwide.
A score which may seem correct, but which is undoubtedly disappointing for Disney given the substantial budget of 200 million dollars, and the score of the 2019 film (1.6 billion worldwide). In the end, this prequel will end its career timidly, without having convinced the crowds (and the industry) of its interest.
Sonic 3 is one of the successes of the end of 2024. ©Paramount Pictures
For his part, Sonic 3 has much better accounts to present. With a bill announced at 122 million dollars, the sequel can look forward to already reaching 336 million dollars worldwide in its third week.
This new opus is also preparing to become the franchise's best success in the United States – ahead of Sonic 2 and its 190.8 million – while it has just exceeded a billion dollars on the globe. A plebiscite that Paramount Pictures is apparently delighted with, since the studio has already announced a Sonic 4 for 2027.
Vaiana 2 will enter the club of successes worth more than a billion dollars. © The Walt Disney Company
In the rest of the box office, the two behemoths Wicked And Moana 2 continue to show tremendous retention, raking in $10.2 million and $12.3 million, respectively, more than a month and a half after their theatrical releases. With 960.4 million totaled worldwide, the Disney animated film is a stone's throw from entering the very exclusive “one billion club”.
Finally, it should be noted the very good results of Nosferatureleased during the holidays. Robert Eggers' film has just reached the $100 million mark worldwide in just two weeks, and stands out as a great success, especially in comparison to its budget (50 million). A great public reception which confirms the good reviews including ours.
Lily-Rose Depp in Nosferatu. © Universal Pictures
US box office January 3-5, 2025 (estimates)
| MOVIE | WEEKEND | CUMULATIVE UNITED STATES | WORLD CUMULATION | WEEK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mufasa: The Lion King | $23,836,000 | $168,600,931 | $476,400,931 | 3 |
| 2 | Sonic 3 | $21,200,124 | $187,508,000 | $336,308,000 | 3 |
| 3 | Nosferatu | $13,200,000 | $69,400,565 | $100,389,565 | 2 |
| 4 | Moana 2 | $12,397,000 | $425,152,483 | $960,452,483 | 6 |
| 5 | Wicked | $10,200,055 | $450,752,000 | $681,256,000 | 7 |
