The animal kingdom rules supreme for the first box office weekend of 2025. For the third week in a row, Mufasa: The Lion King faced off against Sonic the Hedgehog 3 — and this time, the apex predator came out on top.

The South Korean box office witnessed “Harbin” fortify its dominant position during the weekend of January 3-5, 2025, while “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” made a notable ascent into fourth place. According to Kobis,

Mufasa: The Lion King trades places with Sonic the Hedgehog 3 at the top of the box office this weekend. See our full report.

Reflecting back on 2024, it was a notably up and down year for films at the box office. The labor battles of 2023 forced some major schedule changes that had a big impact, and there were some notable flops and down periods,

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has made over $200 million worldwide, with $137 million from the domestic market. The movie might be on track to surpass the earnings of the first two films in the series. The entire Sonic trilogy might soon reach $1 billion of revenue at the international box office.

The Lion King reigned over North America's box office this weekend, surpassing Sonic the Hedgehog 3 to start the new year with an estimated $23.8 million take, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday.

The Lion King” climbed to the top of the box office chart in its third week in theaters, grossing $23.8 million this weekend to lead all films in North America, according to industry estimates released Sunday.