Disney’s Mufasa - the lion king

[DarkMetroid567]

Exactly! I don't know what people get out of blindly supporting.

Because you can pretty easily criticize a company (especially one like Disney, who has more than enough gross business practices) without pulling stuff out of your rear and lying.

When your argument is “I have no proof, I just feel like it!”, it’s not a great one.

On the IMAX note: There is no malicious crowding out happening here — the studios make deals with IMAX based on what makes sense. Paramount, for whatever reason (likely other competition?), has not prioritized IMAX for Sonic. This is why we’re seeing Nosferatu in IMAX and not Sonic. If anyone should be mad at Disney it’s the Nosferatu heads.

 

[MickeyMouse10]

Hey that’s unfair. People are actually showing up to see Mufasa (though not as many as Disney likely expected).

Alright, The Little Mermaid (2023) then. Hopefully Mufasa doesn't gross more than that one.

 

[MickeyMouse10]

On the IMAX note: There is no malicious crowding out happening here — the studios make deals with IMAX based on what makes sense. Paramount, for whatever reason (likely other competition?), has not prioritized IMAX for Sonic. This is why we’re seeing Nosferatu in IMAX and not Sonic. If anyone should be mad at Disney it’s the Nosferatu heads.

It doesn't make sense though. Sonic is in much less theaters domestically than Mufasa, even though it is earning more per theater. Also Mufasa IS in more IMAX theaters, which are larger theaters that cost more per ticket.

 

[RunForestRun]

Sonic 3 Beats Mufasa At The Box Office Again Despite Disney's Claims

No matter what way you frame it, Sonic is beating Mufasa in the US, despite what Disney is trying to claim.

www.thegamer.com

Disney is the true Lying King. They've been doing it for years, even before things have been released (Obi-Wan). Mufasa is just another one added to the list, they are lying about.

We never see the receipts either.

 

[DarkMetroid567]

It doesn't make sense though. Sonic is in much less theaters domestically than Mufasa, even though it is earning more per theater. Also Mufasa IS in more IMAX theaters, which are larger theaters that cost more per ticket.

The theater difference is only like 300, right? IMAX explains some, regional explains the other. The showtime variations have been weird. I had a hard time finding good seats for my viewing of Mufasa on Christmas Day while a lot more Sonic showtimes were available — I think the length of the movies could play into that.

But it’s also not surprising because Mufasa’s expectations were definitely higher. I would not fault a theater for thinking Mufasa would do better than Sonic before the movies actually came out.

 

[Dranth]

Exactly! I don't know what people get out of blindly supporting.

Blindly supporting and asking for factual information are not the same thing.

If someone is going to make the claim that Disney FORCED theaters to show Mufasa on IMAX screens, then they should provide proof otherwise that person is just talking out of their backside. Disney has certainly bullied theaters in the past and theater companies/owners never had a problem telling everyone about it so if that was happening again, we should be hearing from them.

Given that we aren't, a more logical conclusion would be that any requirements that were asked for by Disney were standard so not worth the theaters complaining about or that there were no requirements. If new information comes out then obviously things change but as of now it is just wild speculation with no factual backing.

 

[Ghost93]

The same people that say they love Mufasa probably said they loved The Marvels and The Acolyte.

The three projects you mentioned have NOTHING in common. For what it's worth, I think Mufasa and The Acolyte are both a 6/10 while the Marvels is a 3 or 4/10.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Disney seems to have forced theaters to put Mufasa on the big Imax screens. So it seems to have an unfair advantage over it's competition. Put with that that it Globally opened up on the 18th in some countries (Sonic mostly debut on the 25th or later in a majority of countries). It really gave it a headstart. Sonic should have debut on a different date.

Yeah, most people on this thread don't want to mention those things. Because it doesn't support their arguments.

Mufasa's global BO so far is $335M.

It's global cumulative from IMAX is $23M.

Let's assume an IMAX ticket is twice the cost of a regular ticket. That means Disney got an extra $13M from Mufasa being in IMAX theaters.

So, that would make Mufasa's cume at this point, theoretically without IMAX, a global $315M.

Is this the hill you're going to die on?

 

[Moka]

Sonic 3 Beats Mufasa At The Box Office Again Despite Disney's Claims

No matter what way you frame it, Sonic is beating Mufasa in the US, despite what Disney is trying to claim.

www.thegamer.com

Disney is the true Lying King. They've been doing it for years, even before things have been released (Obi-Wan). Mufasa is just another one added to the list, they are lying about.

We never see the receipts either.

They're not lying though. The replies to this topic online are just from people who have never followed the box office and want to pretend they know what they are talking about.

The box office runs week by week. Mufasa made more money Christmas week domestically. Therefore, as of Christmas week, they are the number 1 movie in America - because as of late, it has been making more money. Sonic just won the weekend. Mufasa is looking to win this upcoming week and maybe this weekend based on current projections. Mufasa has won dailies the last 2 days, and now Paramount isn't throwing out their actuals the last 2 days. Funny, ain't it?

This is always how the box office and marketing has worked, but people only care now because Sonic is on the other end of it. Somebody better go attack Moana and Wicked, because they are clearly #1 decimating Sonic in the box office! Just look at the current numbers! Because that's what we're going by, right? Not week by week? Just grand total numbers?

Sorry, but in the long run, Mufasa is going to stomp on Sonic and anyone who has been thinking otherwise is delusional. Mufasa is looking to go around $700M+ WW, Sonic will probably aim for around $500M+. As for domestic, it's going to be a photo finish as Mufasa is clearly picking up its legs and the fan rush is Sonic is slowing down.

On the topic of IMAX, Paramount has never pushed Sonic for official IMAX releases. Not even the previous installment. People are just grasping for straws. But... I'm told Disney is the one who bullies theaters...

 

[mickEblu]

Spontaneously saw Mufasa today. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. I’ve pretty much written off all of the Live action remakes (I know this isn’t a remake), never saw the Lion King live action remake and had zero interest in watching this in theatres or even on Disney + for that matter but it happened to be playing at the right time today as we walked by the movie theatre at an outdoor mall after lunch. Anyway, I enjoyed the story and how they handled Mufasa n Takas relationship but specifically Takas character arc. Really like the “brother” song. The story was engaging which is saying a lot as I have a hard time not drifting off during all the kids movies I take my kids to see these days. Enjoyed it more than Sonic 3 (also better than I thought it would be) which was planned and scheduled in advance. My son was eagerly anticipating Sonic. He never once mentioned wanting to see Mufasa although was very excited to spontaneously go see it as he loves going to the movies. I’m not getting the sense that the franchise and characters are a huge draw for children.

If there is any knock on the film it’s that I’m not huge fan of the casting. I think Billy Eichner as Timon is an awful casting choice and Seth Rogen as Pumba isn’t much better. Not that the voice acting was bad but just such a downgrade from the iconic original voice actors like James Earl Jones and Nathan Lane. All the lions just kind of sounded the same outside of Mufasa and Taka. Many of the lions voices just arent distinct or memorable. A lot the male lions just kind of sound like Idris Elba to me but none of them as great as Elbas job on Shere Kahn. All the lionesses just kind of sound like Lupita Nyongo. A couple of the original songs were pretty good.

I heard Mufasa isn’t doing that great in theatres? If so I think it’s mostly due to Disney live action remake fatigue and Lion King fatigue. Word of mouth might help Mufasa the same way it helped Elemental.

 

[Moka]

Yeah, this is going to make an impressive run in comparison to the rough start it had and surprise a lot of people.

 

[TalkingHead]

Yeah, this is going to make an impressive run in comparison to the rough start it had and surprise a lot of people.

Two weeks later and it’s still $50+ million away from 2019 Lion King’s domestic opening weekend.

 

[TheCoasterNerd]

Disney seems to have forced theaters to put Mufasa on the big Imax screens. So it seems to have an unfair advantage over it's competition. Put with that that it Globally opened up on the 18th in some countries (Sonic mostly debut on the 25th or later in a majority of countries). It really gave it a headstart. Sonic should have debut on a different date.

Source?

My theater was not playing it in IMAX, even though we have IMAX screens.

 

[Moka]

A film not made for IMAX… will not get any IMAX screens. That’s not how it works.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

I'm already on record as saying I think it'll lose money. However after the better than expected box office over the last couple days and possibly into the weekend it may end up coming close to breaking even if not turning a profit, we'll see what the final tally is.

You mean…you have the ability to have an opinion, but when presented with facts, accept those facts and adjust your perspective?

More people should try that.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

We saw the film on New Year’s Day, and enjoyed it. I found the story more compelling and less sappy than TLK. Then again, the one and only time I saw the first one was on a date at someone’s house around 1996 or so, in my twenties. I remember wondering why he chose this to watch, but enjoyed it OK.

Noteworthy: the cgi didn’t bother me once I got used to it.

If I’m nitpicking, I seem to recall a cringe (like too corny) moment or two in the “brothaaaa” song. And in general, across many films by different studios, I’m tired of villains becoming villains over nothing, some small perceived slight one time or whatever.

But it was absolutely worth seeing, and I’m glad I saw it in the theater.

And yes, for the record, @MickeyMouse10 I also enjoyed The Acolyte and The Marvels. So?

 

[Disney Irish]

Mufasa is at $371M going into the weekend. With no major releases it should come close if not surpassing $400M by the end of the weekend once international is added in.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Closing in on the 600M needed to break even at the box office.

 

[Disney Irish]

Closing in on the 600M needed to break even at the box office.

With no major releases in January (sorry, I don't really consider "Dog Man" a major release) it doesn't have much competition outside of what is already released. So while international is doing the heavy lifting its still possible it'll hit that.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

This reminded me of Wonka last year. I seemed to remember it starting with a bit of a whimper and then making a comeback around Christmas and just staying consistent with little competition. It ended up doing very well. (P.S. I love it.)

A quick check shows Mufasa had very similar opening weekend numbers, and we know it also spiked for the holidays. It’s already doing better than Wonka at this point, which kept plugging along through February, and didn’t have much of a Sonic-like competitor.

Wonka ended up with over $200m domestic and over $400m international, for a total of $635m WW. I don’t think 600 is much of a stretch for Mufasa. It’s nearly at 400 now.

Is it a repeat viewing kind of movie? I don’t know. But I can see how taking the whole family on holidays is bumping the numbers up.