After all, it is the fastest thing there is. “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” rolls to the top of the box office in its North American premiere, collecting $25.7 million from 3,761 locations on Friday and in preview screenings. Meanwhile, “Mufasa: The Lion King” will land in second place, having earned $13.3 million so far from 4,100 sites over the same period.

Some had expected there to be a more even box office duel between two family-friendly features starring CG characters. Paramount’s “Sonic” sequel fared ahead of “Mufasa” in its debut. While mid-December weekends can often seem like a calm before the storm, with the public putting off going to the movies to prepare for the holidays, that’s not slowing the blue blur here. “Sonic 3” was almost defeated The opening date for Sonic 2 was $26 million in April 2022. The film should have no trouble exceeding its projections, which had predicted an opening between $55 million and $60 million.

It’s a strong start for the $122 million production. Even better, “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” has a few weeks ahead of it when kids are out of school and pent-up parents are looking forward to activities outside of the family. The end of the year is often the calendar date when theatrical releases multiply the most, and “Sonic 3” has the franchise’s best reviews and an enthusiastic response from ticket buyers. Moviegoer pollster Cinema Score gave the film a top grade of “A,” indicating an enthusiastic response from fans.

Jeff Fowler returned to direct the third Sonic, in which the hedgehog voiced by Ben Schwartz teamed up with Tails the Fox (Colleen O’Shaughnessey), Knuckles the Echidna (Idris Elba) and his human father figure (James Marsden), the really unusual Shadow the Hedgehog (Keanu Reeves) and the mustachioed Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey, returning this time in dual roles).

Disney’s “Mufasa”, which has a much higher production budget of over 200 million US dollars, relies much more heavily on a healthy multiplier for the Christmas season and is a distant second. Directed by “Moonlight” Oscar winner Barry Jenkins in his long-awaited follow-up to “If Beale Street Could Talk,” the effects-packed feature serves as an original prequel to Jon Favreau’s 2019 photorealistic “The Lion King” remake.

While December opening weekends rarely boom like those in the summer, “Sonic 3” proves that audiences will still prioritize a new event film around the holiday season if forced to. “Mufasa” is expected to gross $35 million in its opening weekend, which would be a significant drop from its 2019 predecessor’s $191 million domestic debut.

Even rather dull reviews haven’t generated any hype, although audiences are much friendlier, with an “A” grade from Cinema Score (though that’s also worse than the “A” grade earned by 2019’s “The Lion King.” ). While a strong holiday multiplier is still in the offing after this weak start, Disney is largely banking on international audiences to make “Mufasa” a box office success. The “Lion King” is considered a global brand. The 2019 remake grossed a record over $1 billion overseas, and that prequel is expected to top the international box office this weekend (“Sonic 3” doesn’t open in most countries until Christmas).

At least Disney won’t have to contend with “Moana 2,” which is now fighting for third place after adding another $3 million on Friday. The animated musical sequel has now grossed over $350 million in North America and could surpass Despicable Me 4 ($361 million) by the end of the weekend, making it the fourth-highest-grossing domestic release of the year. “Moana 2” has now grossed $725 million worldwide.

It’s battling Universal’s “Wicked” for bronze on the domestic charts. The two-part adaptation of the hit Broadway musical brings in another $14 million in its fifth weekend, increasing its domestic grosses to over $384 million. With the holiday season soon in full swing, the $400 million milestone isn’t far away.

Fifth place goes to Angel Studios’ “Homestead,” a faith-based drama that tells the story of a camp surviving after an apocalyptic attack on the United States and which – spoiler – is presented as a kind of stealth pilot for a new television series proudly at the end of the film. This may have had an irritating effect on the audience; Cinema Score received a grade of B, much lower than the usual A range for Angel Studios releases. “Homestead” earned about $2.8 million from 1,886 locations as of Friday and hopes to do more than $5 million in its three-day opening.

Outside the top five, Sony’s “Kraven the Hunter” falls to the bottom in its second weekend. The Marvel anti-hero film falls to seventh place, banking $3.1 million for its sophomore release. That’s a staggering 72% from the already meager debut – much steeper than the 61% decline suffered by the studio’s sister comic film, “Madame Web,” earlier this year. “Kraven” now ranks behind the fifth picture of fellow R-rated action film “Gladiator II”; This Paramount release is expected to bring in another $4.8 million this weekend and has now surpassed $150 million domestically.