‘Mufasa’ and ‘Sonic 3’ Lead Holiday Box Office Surge as ‘Nosferatu’ and ‘A Complete Unknown’ Exceed Expectations

The post-Christmas box office saw its strongest performance since 2019, with family-friendly films dominating and new releases finding success across diverse genres.

Disney’s ‘Mufasa: The Lion King’ narrowly edged out ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’ in overall five-day holiday earnings, with $63.9 million and $59.8 million respectively, though ‘Sonic 3’ led the traditional weekend totals.
Robert Eggers’ gothic horror ‘Nosferatu’ debuted with $40.3 million over five days, significantly surpassing projections and marking the director’s most successful box office opening to date.
Searchlight’s Bob Dylan biopic ‘A Complete Unknown,’ starring Timothée Chalamet, achieved a strong $23.2 million five-day opening, with potential for sustained performance driven by awards buzz and an older audience.
Holdovers ‘Wicked’ and ‘Moana 2’ continued to perform well, with both films posting holiday boosts and contributing significantly to the year-end box office recovery.
The overall domestic box office for the post-Christmas weekend reached $165 million, a 45% improvement over last year, though attendance remains below pre-pandemic levels.