Disney’s photorealistic prequel Mufasa: The Lion King continues to show robust box office performance, amassing a total of $671 million in global ticket sales. Over the weekend, the film earned an additional $8.5 million from 52 international markets. With eight weekends on the big screen, Mufasa has now generated $235 million domestically and $432.9 million internationally, making it the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2024 so far. As the film faces little competition at the global box office, its worldwide revenue nears the $700 million mark.
Though these figures pale in comparison to the $1.66 billion achieved by its predecessor, Jon Favreau’s 2019 remake of The Lion King, the current success represents a significant rebound after a slow start in late 2023. Disney, which invested over $200 million in production costs and roughly $100 million in marketing, is seeing positive returns from Mufasa, a crucial financial turnaround for the studio.
Meanwhile, Paddington in Peru, the third installment in the beloved family franchise, has crossed a major milestone by surpassing $100 million at the international box office. The film, which has earned $104 million overseas, will open in U.S. and Canadian theaters on February 14. Like its predecessors, Paddington in Peru has found greater success abroad, with the previous two films in the series performing similarly well in international markets. Developed and fully financed by StudioCanal, the film is distributed in select territories, including the U.S. and Latin America, by Sony Pictures.
In contrast, new releases struggled this weekend. Universal’s action-comedy Love Hurts, starring Ke Huy Quan and Ariana DeBose, performed poorly with only $1.075 million from 31 international markets. Domestically, the film grossed just $5.8 million, bringing its global total to a mere $6.8 million. Despite a modest production budget of $18 million, the film’s underperformance is a disappointment for Universal.
Another underwhelming debut came from Universal’s animated Dog Man, which grossed $6.5 million from 41 overseas markets. While the film opened to a relatively strong $4 million in the U.K. and Ireland, its performance faltered elsewhere. With a global total of $66 million against a $40 million budget, Dog Man has yet to prove its profitability, despite its appeal to younger audiences.
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