Disney called out for falsely touting 'Mufasa: The Lion King' as '#1 movie in America' over 'Sonic 3'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Disney has been subjected to a fact-check on social media site X (formerly Twitter) after it erroneously claimed that 'Mufasa', the prequel to 'The Lion King', was the "#1 movie in America" over 'Sonic 3'.

Some reviews have praised the film's "technological step up" from the first film, while others have criticized its soulless, photorealistic approach to "live-action" animation.

However, despite the depressing figures, Walt Disney Studios declared 'Mufasa' the "#1 movie in America" on its official X account, after community notes provided a fact-check.

Walt Disney Studios declared on X, "Mufasa: The Lion King is now the #1 movie in America, and the #1 movie in the world, two weeks in a row! See it now, only in theaters!"

Disney caught inflating success of 'Mufasa: The Lion King' over 'Sonic 3'

'Mufasa: The Lion King,' released earlier this month, explores the relationship between the orphaned cub Mufasa (Aaron Pierre) and Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr), the heir to a royal bloodline who would eventually be known as Scar.

Despite the controversy surrounding its live-action remakes, such as 'The Lion King' (2019), Disney took a risk this year and released a direct prequel to the classic 1994 animation.

Although it has already recovered its budget and hasn't exactly bombed at the box office, its performance is far less impressive than that of its predecessor, which earned $1.657 billion.

With $13.3 million on its first day in the United States and $35.4 million over its first weekend, 'Mufasa: The Lion King' has now made $328 million, per Inside the Magic.

Although it's not bad, it's still below average for a Disney debut. Following 'Sonic the Hedgehog 3' (2024), another popular family-friendly release, 'Mufasa: The Lion King' came in second place for the weekend.

The 'Sonic' movie franchise's third sequel dominated the box office throughout December, consistently outperforming 'Mufasa', the prequel to a beloved IP, as reported by Breitbart News.

According to studio estimates, 'Sonic the Hedgehog 3' made $62 million in ticket sales over the weekend of its premiere.

'Sonic 3' is positioned to be the most popular movie in theaters during the busiest time of the year for moviegoers thanks to its excellent reviews (86% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and high audience rating (an "A" on CinemaScore).

However, Disney has continued to assert the opposite. The studio's X account came under fire for promoting 'Mufasa: The Lion King' as the top movie in the world and the United States.

X quickly fixed the page using its community notes system, which flags erroneous posts to stop false information from spreading.

"Even in the source the NNN put it still says Sonic 3 beat Mufasa in America with Sonic 3 generated 137.5M in America while Mufasa currently at 111M in America," the note reads.

Fans call out Disney for exaggerating 'Mufasa: The Lion King's success

'Sonic the Hedgehog' fans quickly criticized Disney on X, pointing out that the franchise's threequel is currently outperforming 'Mufasa: The Lion King.'

One X user wrote, "Lol!!! Mufusa is not number one in America anymore because Sonic Movie 3 took it back!!!"

A second fan added, "Okay you’re technically right about the world, but this is a literal lie when Sonic 3 has held the #1 domestic box office two weeks in a row. It’s even outgrossed Mufasa domestically so far."

"Lying again, I see~ When will you learn. #SonicMovie3 is Number 1 in America!" exclaimed one.

Another remarked, "This single tweet has had at least three different community notes all say that Sonic 3 is the actual #1 movie in America. Disney is definitely fuming right now."

Another noted, "...So anyways Sonic 3 is in theaters now and is the #1 movie in America according to the actual box office records."

"You guys are lying... sonic 3 is a number 1 movie! right now! i dont give this movie a Jim Carrey out of 10," said one.

One said, "That's not true. Sonic 3 is still the #1 movie in America."

Another remarked, "They really hit us with BOTH SONIC ADVENTURE 2 poses AND SONIC MOVIE 3 IS OFFICIALLY THE #1 IN AMERICA!!! WE SERIOUSLY CAN'T STOP WINNING."

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