Technically it was Sonic 3 that edged ahead by a blue hair over Mufasa with $38million (£30,171,181) to its $37.1m (£29,456,601), raked in from tickets purchased over the usual weekend period of Friday to Sunday, December 27-29.

The Lion King has created a stir. The clash of two movies at the box office has always been nerve-racking, but this time the fight between Mufasa

The Lion King outperformed Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog 3 at the international box office, solidifying its global dominance. While both films competed strongly during the holiday season, Mufasa leveraged its international appeal to pull ahead of Sonic 3 in worldwide earnings.