THE WEEKEND WARRIOR Early Edition December 20, 2024

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 vs. Mufasa: The Lion King!

We’re coming off another terrible weekend where neither of the wide releases did even remotely close to where anyone expected. Part of it might just be the time of year – it’s generally known that the weekends between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day tend to slow down, barring a “Star Wars” movie – and being released in the midst of a number of franchise movies and blockbusters doesn’t help either. The box office really needs to pick up, and this weekend offers two movies that are likely to dominate for the rest of the year and even into January.

This coming weekend is a tough one to predict, because we have the third installment of a popular franchise and a prequel to a hugely successful live action version of an animated juggernaut. Both would normally be huge but opening just a few days before Christmas might make some wonder whether the market slowdown might affect both of them. More after the paywall..