“Mufasa” rules Christmas Day box office as “Nosferatu” takes a bite out of theaters

The movie to see in theaters on Christmas Day was Mufasa: The Lion King.

The prequel to the 2019 photo-real CG-animated Disney movie ruled the box office on Dec. 25, earning $14.7 million in North America from 4,100 theaters. That makes its cumulative total domestically at $64.3 million.

Oscar winner Barry Jenkins directed Mufasa, which features the voices of Aaron Pierre (Rebel Ridge, HBO's Lanterns) and Kelvin Harrison Jr. (Chevalier, Cyrano). The movie musical features songs written by Lin-Manuel Miranda as it tells the story of how an orphaned lion, Mufasa (Pierre), grows to become the king of Pride Rock, while his adoptive brother, Taka (Harrison), grows to become Scar.

Related: Aaron Pierre on his big year with Rebel Ridge, succeeding James Earl Jones in Mufasa, and Lanterns casting

In a different sense, Nosferatu was just as successful as this Disney title. Director Robert Eggers' horror reimagining of the black-and-white vampire classic came quite close to the Disney film's Christmas Day total, with $11.5 million from screenings at just 2,911 locations, more than half the number of theaters Mufasa had.

Unlike Mufasa, however, Nosferatu made its debut directly on Christmas Day. Stars Lily-Rose Depp (as Ellen Hutter), Nicholas Hoult (as Thomas Hutter), and Willem Dafoe (as Prof. Albin Eberhart Von Franz) made the case for their gothic film to be considered a Christmas movie during an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

"There are a couple Christmas-y Easter eggs in there, so I feel like if you watch it on Christmas, you'll feel in tune, you'll feel like they're in the same time as you," Depp said. "And, you know, there's snow! It gets pretty cold. Who doesn't love to think about death and the realm of the dead on Christmas Day?"

Related: Nicholas Hoult says Robert Eggers gifted him Bill Skarsgård's prosthetic penis from Nosferatu: It's 'framed at home'

Nosferatu, also starring Bill Skarsgård as the vampiric Count Orlok, is projected to earn an estimated $33 million domestically after five days.

Other titles earning bucks from Christmas Day outings in North America include Sonic the Hedgehog 3 ($10.35 million), Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown (opening with $7.2 million — including previews), Wicked ($5.4 million), Moana 2 ($4.2 million), Olympic boxer drama The Fire Inside ($1.68 million), Nicole Kidman-starring erotic thriller Babygirl ($1.5 million), Gladiator II ($1.49 million), and action film Homestead ($1.2 million).

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly