What Went Wrong With Mufasa: The Lion King’s Opening Weekend? Breaking Down Its $35 Million Box Office

Disney’s much-anticipated prequel Mufasa: The Lion King got off to an underwhelming start with a disappointing opening weekend, leaving many wondering what went wrong at the box office for what seemed like a surefire success. The follow-up to Disney’s box office juggernaut The Lion King chronicles the story of Mufasa’s youth and rise to the throne of the Pride Lands, told via an extended flashback. Some familiar faces return, as the narrative is actually relayed as a story told to Simba’s daughter, Timon, and Pumbaa by Rafiki.

Unlike its predecessor, Mufasa: The Lion King contained an original story in the lore of The Lion King universe. With original songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda and Academy Award-winning director Barry Jenkins at the helm, expectations were understandably high for one of Disney’s most expensive films of the last few years. Despite fixing one of The Lion King‘s biggest flaws with more expressive animal animation, critics and audiences were divided on Mufasa, which unfortunately yielded a box office total far lower than expectations in its opening weekend.

Mufasa: The Lion King Opened To Nearly Half Of Its Projected Box Office Performance

The Prequel Fell Well Short Of Most Estimates

According to Deadline, early November estimates indicated that Mufasa: The Lion King was expected to generate a healthy domestic box office total in its first weekend; the most commonly-seen range was between $60-$65 million. In that context, Mufasa: The Lion King‘s opening weekend was an unmitigated disaster, as it opened with just $35 million domestically across the weekend before Christmas. There are myriad reasons why any movie flops, but Disney had seen a huge resurgence lately at the box office, which makes Mufasa‘s low domestic total that much more noticeable.

Mufasa: The Lion King Also Struggled Internationally In Its Opening Weekend

It Topped Out More Than $50 million Short Of Projections

Oftentimes, movies (especially blockbusters) will fare better overseas than they do in the US, which can be their saving grace when it comes to profitability. Another Disney movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, famously earned a billion at the global box office despite an underwhelming domestic total that would have been $130 million short of its budget. That unfortunately wasn’t the case for Mufasa: The Lion King, as it earned just $122 million worldwide. With initial projections putting Mufasa‘s worldwide opening weekend total at around $180 million, the international haul was just as disappointing as the domestic.

Mufasa: The Lion King’s Opening Weekend Is A Fraction Of 2019’s The Lion King

The 2019 Adaptation Was One Of The Most Successful Family Movies Ever

Mufasa: The Lion King‘s early box office failure looks even more dramatic when compared to its predecessor. The Lion King debuted in 2019 with an astonishing domestic opening weekend box office total of $192 million, more than five times that of the 2024 prequel. The Lion King wound up scoring an eye-opening $543.6 million domestic total, and an additional $1.113 billion from other countries around the globe, bringing its box office total to more than $1.6 billion. The Lion King‘s global debut in particular was impressive, as its $446 million haul put it in the top 10 movies of all-time.

That final box office total made The Lion King the highest-grossing animated movie of all time, a title it just recently lost when it was surpassed by Inside Out 2‘s $1.69 billion box office total. Mufasa: The Lion King opening to just a fraction of The Lion King‘s total will almost certainly be considered a disappointment for Disney, no matter what the final box office total is.

Why Mufasa Performed So Much Worse Than The Lion King

Several Elements Combined For The Box Office Flop

Despite the high expectations, Mufasa: The Lion King actually had quite a few elements working against it from a box office perspective. For one, it was released at a time when there was a serious amount of competition for families in theaters all at once. The latest installment in the popular Sonic the Hedgehog series debuted the same day as Mufasa, which undoubtedly impacted its box office potential as families chose one or the other. On top of that, there was still a fair amount of holdover from two other juggernauts in Moana 2 and Wicked.

Mufasa: The Lion King also boasted far less star power than its predecessor; nearly every character in The Lion King was voiced by a Hollywood A-lister, including Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Donald Glover, John Oliver, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Seth Rogen, and James Earl Jones reprising his role as Mufasa. Some of the voice actors returned for brief cameos, while Timon and Pumbaa returned in earnest for the prequel. However, their presence was unnecessary and, frankly, out of place in the more serious narrative. Talented though the voice cast of Mufasa is, it’s lacking the household names that The Lion King boasted.

The prequel also lacked the sheer nostalgia and interest of the original The Lion King. The 1994 animated version is among the most beloved and celebrated animated films of all time, and many of the kids and teens who grew up with that movie are now parents themselves. Seeing one of their favorite animated films brought to life has obvious attraction for that audience. Mufasa, on the other hand, held none of the same amotional attachment, and the interest in an original story simply isn’t there.

Can Mufasa: The Lion King Recover At The Box Office After Its Rough Opening?

There Is Still Hope For Disney’s Most Significant Holiday Season Film

Despite the many reasons it has flopped so far, all hope is not lost for Mufasa: The Lion King at the box office. As uninspiring as the opening weekend may have been, there are really no major threats to its reign as the top family movie in theaters over the final two weeks of December. Kids will be off from school and adults will be off from work, leaving more time and more opportunities to get to the theater.

Moana 2 and Wicked will be another week removed from the center of attention, and the families that may have selected Sonic the Hedgehog 3 over Mufasa could certainly circle back to the Disney prequel. It seems likely that the final box office total for Mufasa: The Lion King will still be disappointing in the grand scheme of things, as it will be hard for the movie to completely bounce back after such a rocky start. However, there is still plenty of time for the movie to not only make its budget back, but turn into a legitimate profit-earner for the House of Mouse.

Source: Deadline