Mufasa: The Lion Kinghas landed on another major box office chart. The movie, which is a prequel to the 2019 photorealistic CG-animated remakeThe Lion King, follows the titular future king (Aaron Pierre) as his bond with his adopted brother Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) develops and eventually shatters. TheMufasa: The Lion Kingcastalso includes Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, Tiffany Boone, Mads Mikkelsen, Thandiwe Newton, and Blue Ivy Carter. Although the movie had a lukewarm debut, it has had slow-and-steady growth and has now made more than $650 million worldwide.
PerDeadline, as of Saturday morning,Mufasa: The Lion Kingis projected to end its ninth weekend in domestic theaters with a 3-day total of $4 million and a 4-day total of $5.9 million over the Presidents' Day holiday. In addition to landing it at No. 6 on the chart for the weekend, this brings its cumulative domestic gross to $242.4 million. According toThe Numbers' chart, that total marks it asthe 50th highest-grossing PG-movie of all timeat the domestic box office, falling just behind 1984’sGhostbusters($242.6 million) at No. 49.
What This Means For Mufasa: The Lion King
Its Success Is Tempered When Compared To The 2019 Movie
Although mixedMufasa: The Lion Kingreviewshave earned the movie a middling 57% score on Rotten Tomatoes, it has climbed up various box office charts in leaps and bounds. In fact,it will most likely land on the chart of the Top 50 highest-grossing Walt Disney movies at the domestic box officebefore long. It is currently at No. 51 and only needs to surpassCars($244.1 million) andToy Story 2($245.8 million), which represents an achievable rise of just $3.4 million that could be accomplished by the end of its next weekend in theaters.
[Mufasa] reportedly cost $200 million and easily surpassed its likely break-even point of $500 million worldwide.
However, the movie still pales in comparison to the record-breaking performance of the 2019Lion King. That title made $543.6 million at the domestic box office, making itthe 18th highest-grossing movie of all time in North Americaat the time of writing. Its success does not necessarily diminish the accomplishments ofMufasa, which reportedly cost $200 million and easily surpassed its likely break-even point of $500 million worldwide, but the prequel’s level of success may not spur Disney to greenlight another installment in the franchise, unlike its predecessor.
Our Take On The Mufasa Box Office
Its Run Will End Soon
Young Taka and Mufasa press their faces together in Mufasa: The Lion King
While it will likely land on the Top 50 Walt Disney chart, theMufasa: The Lion Kingreleaseis winding down after nearly two full months in theaters.Its premium video on demand release is set to debut on various platforms on February 18, which will likely begin to eat into its theatrical profits considerably. While this means that it will never match the success of the 2019 movie, which grossed $1.662 billion worldwide, its own run has still been a remarkable achievement in and of itself.
