• by Wayne Friedman , December 22, 2024

Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 3" in its pre-Christmas weekend opening overdelivered, with a $62 million domestic debut, Comscore says.

It was the second-highest opening ever for a PG-rated December movie, an animated film based on the video game series. “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Witch, the Lion and the Wardrobe” (2005) has the top PG-rated December opening.

Walt Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” also opened at the same time -- but underdelivered, with a $35 million start. It was projected to get to $50 million.

Still, Disney still has a lot of feel good about this year. It totaled $5 billion in global box-office revenue -- the first time any studio has hit that mark since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Paramount spent a modest $13.1 million in national TV advertising (which includes media value of advertising on its own TV networks) for “Sonic the Hedgehog,” according to EDO Ad EnGage. There were 3,720 airings, generating 2 billion impressions.

Disney put up a bit more for “Mufasa” at $23.3 million, with 4,630 airings and 3.2 billion impressions.

Since mid-November, domestic theatrical box-office revenues have made up ground for lagging results earlier this year.

Through December 22, Comscore says domestic revenue is now just 4.3% behind 2023, on a season-to-date basis, at $8.31 billion. It was around 11% down in season-to-date 2023 dollar totals through November 24.

Top movie studios in advertising spending/value through December 22, according to EDO Ad EnGage, are Universal Pictures ($207.6 million); Warner Bros. Pictures ($150.4 million); Paramount Pictures ($125.1 million); and Walt Disney Studios ($113.5 million).