Mufasa: The Lion King box office collection Day 3 (Updated Live): Shah Rukh Khan-dubbed movie sees growth on Sunday; inches closer to Rs 50 crore mark |
Disney’s new animated musical drama Mufasa: The Lion King, a prequel to The Lion King, experienced notable growth at the box office on Sunday. The live-action Hollywood film emerged as the second-highest-earning film of the weekend at the Indian box office, behind Allu Arjun‘s Pushpa 2: The Rule.
According to early estimates by Sacnilk.com, Mufasa earned approximately Rs 18.75 crore at the ticket windows on Sunday. The film, which hit theatres on Friday, December 21, began its box office run with a net collection of Rs 8.8 crore. Of this, an estimated Rs 3.5 crore came from English screenings, while the Hindi-dubbed version—featuring a star-studded voice cast including Shah Rukh Khan and his sons Aryan and AbRam—contributed Rs 2.6 crore. The Tamil-dubbed version earned an estimated Rs 1 crore.
On Saturday, the film saw a 55.68% increase in revenue, earning an estimated Rs 13.7 crore. The English original maintained a Rs 1 crore lead over the Hindi-dubbed version. Sunday marked the highest single-day collection for the film so far, with an estimated Rs 18.75 crore.
While the film fell short of the Rs 50 crore mark, it managed to accumulate a net total of approximately Rs 41.25 crore. This performance is notably lower than the 2019 The Lion King remake, which crossed the Rs 50 crore mark in its opening weekend.
In North America, the film secured the second position at the box office, grossing $35 million during the Friday-through-Sunday period, according to industry tracker Exhibitor Relations. This was significantly below the predicted $50 million, especially for a movie that cost an estimated $300 million to produce and promote, as reported by Variety. Despite the underwhelming start, analysts predict a strong run, with schoolchildren now on year-end vacations in North America.
The voice cast for Mufasa includes Aaron Pierre (Mufasa), Seth Rogen, Beyoncé, and Donald Glover (a.k.a. Childish Gambino), with songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda. The photorealistic prequel even opened wider than Sonic 3, debuting in 4,100 theatres and dominating most IMAX screens, compared to 3,761 locations for Sonic 3.
Despite Mufasa’s lukewarm opening, Disney is celebrating its strongest annual performance in years. The studio has generated over $5 billion in ticket sales worldwide, including the year’s top two hits: Inside Out 2 and Deadpool and Wolverine. The animated Moana 2 is on track to round out the top three films of the year, having collected $790.2 million globally, including $13.1 million in U.S. and Canadian theatres over the weekend.
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