Mufasa: The Lion King Roars onto Disney+ This March – Don’t Miss It!

by

In the year 2024, the movie “The Lion King: Mufasa” premiered during the holiday season, bucking the trend of many recent films by first playing in cinemas to build momentum before moving to Premium Video on Demand (PVOD). It was beneficial for Disney to maintain a longer theatrical run, as doubts were cast about its opening weekend performance. However, the film managed to find an audience and achieved box office success that Disney could be proud of. With its box-office phase coming to an end, it’s time for “Mufasa” to embark on its next adventure – finding a new streaming platform for those who may have missed it over the holidays.

According to People Magazine, the Disney+ release of “Mufasa: The Lion King” is scheduled for March 26. This comes approximately three and a half months after its theater debut on December 20. The film’s performance has been impressive, managing to secure the 8th spot on the box office chart over the weekend with earnings of $1.6 million in its 12th week of release. Notably, the previous week it ranked 6th place, earning $1.9 million during its 11th weekend. This signifies a minimal drop of just 16.3%, which is quite remarkable given its extended run by movie theater standards.

Mufasa: The Lion King Has A Soft Start at The Box Office

In simpler terms, “The Lion King” prequel titled “Mufasa” didn’t start off strong when it first premiered, unlike the 2019 photorealistic version of the 1994 animated film. To put things into perspective, the 2019 movie earned $191.8 million during summer 2019, whereas “Mufasa” only managed to gather $35.4 million as it entered the Christmas season. Surprisingly, it ranked second behind “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” ($60.1 million), leading some to believe that the $200 million prequel might face significant challenges.

The movie’s success story unfolded as its theater run extended, eventually overtaking Sonic the Hedgehog 3 in the top spot during its third week in theaters. By Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, it was still number one during its fifth showing and managed to outperform new releases like Wolf Man and One of Them Days. Its box office performance became remarkably strong, allowing it to surpass the third Sonic movie in domestic earnings despite the latter opening with higher numbers. Mufasa: The Lion King has amassed $250.4 million domestically compared to Sonic’s still impressive $235.8 million. With a global collection of $712.4 million, the prequel may not have reached the 2019 film’s $1.6 billion worldwide total, but considering its start, it can be seen as an exceptional box office performance.

Under the direction of Barry Jenkins, scripted by Jeff Nathanson, the film titled Mufasa: The Lion King follows the tale of Mufasa, a character who finds refuge with lion Taka (portrayed by Kelvin Harrison Jr.) and his kin after being stranded. An initial bond between them develops as brothers, but Taka, destined to rule due to his royal lineage, becomes envious of Mufasa following a sequence of events that will shape their destinies irreversibly, transforming Taka into the infamous villain Scar. The movie boasts the voice acting talents of Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, Donald Glover, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, John Kani, Tiffany Boone, Mads Mikkelsen, Thandiwe Newton, Lennie James, Anika Noni Rose and Blue Ivy Carter. Additionally, the film offers new melodies by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Mufasa: The Lion King hits Disney+ on Mar. 26.

Read More

2025-03-11 18:31