Box Office: ‘Wolf Man’ Closely Dogged by ‘One of Them Days’ After $4.4 Million Opening Day, ‘Mufasa’ Primed to Pounce Back on No. 1

It’s one of those weekends at the box office, with two new releases pawing at one another in a closer-than-expected race. Sony’s buddy comedy “One of Them Days” is coming in on the higher end of initial projections after earning $4.3 million from 2,675 locations across Friday and preview screenings. That puts it just a touch behind Universal’s horror play “Wolf Man,” which earned $4.4 million across Friday and previews from 3,354 locations. But both features are tracking behind Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King,” which, after nearly an entire month of release, looks to be the top draw for moviegoers over a quiet Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.

For “One of Them Days,” which stars SZA and Keke Palmer as roommates scrounging for cash to avoid eviction, the four-day debut now looks to land north of $14 million. R-rated comedies are now everyone’s first example for a genre that has all but become a theatrical non-entity. That in mind, Sony and co-financier Macro Film Studios kept costs low on this one with a $14 million production budget. Now, with some terrific reviews and a positive audience response (moviegoer pollster Cinema Score logged an A- grade), the film is in a promising position to have some staying power and prove a box office success.

Meanwhile, the R-rated “Wolf Man” is now eyeing $12 million through Monday — a fraction of what Blumhouse and director Leigh Whannell did with their previous horror property revamp “The Invisible Man,” which opened to $28 million (and that was a three-day opening) about a month before COVID lockdowns in 2020.

As it stands, “Wolf Man” will open well south of its projections for a $17 million debut. But, all things considered, that’s probably not worth too much alarm. As with the usual Blumhouse model, “Wolf Man” was a fairly measured financial risk with a $25 million production cost. But after this muted kick-off, the film will now have to weather middling reviews and dismal word-of-mouth (a C- grade from Cinema Score) to put up a decent performance.

Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” is primed to rise back to first after earning $2.5 million on Friday, which is a remarkably slim drop of 13% from its daily total last week. Rivals expect $17 million through the four-day frame — well ahead of both “Wolf Man” and “One of Them Days.” Now in its fifth weekend of release, the photorealistic digitally-rendered prequel will pass the $200 million domestic mark sometime over the next day or two. After a soft start but strong holiday holds, it now ranks as one of the top 10 North American releases of 2024.

Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” is also keeping pace in the top five, posting another $1.7 million on Friday and expecting to reach a $218 million domestic total after 31 days in theaters. The latest adventure for Sega’s iconic video game speedster is now the eighth-highest grossing North American release of 2024.

Finally, “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera” looks to slide to fifth place after opening on top of domestic charts last weekend. Lionsgate’s Euro-hangout heist thriller is projecting about $7.4 million across the three-day frame, which would mark a 50% drop from its opening. The domestic total should inch past $28 million through the MLK holiday. That’s pacing a touch behind the first “Den of Thieves,” which earned $29 million in its first 11 days of release back in 2018.