Weird Sonic and Mufasa Conspiracy Theory Explained

The above tweet from Frack's Sonic Deals said it was pointing out the lack of daily numbers for “Sonic 3” via the account LonelyGoomba. Indeed, the account in question noted the lack of reported numbers on twitter saying “Sonic 3 isn't even in the daily box office anymore. Disney is clearly paying a site to sabotage Sonic 3 to make Mufasa look better smh.” However, just below that in the replies, the account also said: “(I was joking about Disney bribing them).”

(Just kidding about Disney buying them off)

— LonelyGoomba (@LonelyGoomba) January 1, 2025

However, responses from other users said things like, “There's some truth to your joke” or “You're probably not wrong, honestly. It's Disney.” Despite the joke, people were willing to believe that Disney would somehow interfere with the daily box office reports. For what purpose I may ask? As of this writing, Mufasa has earned $342.5 million worldwide, while Sonic 3 has earned $210.5 million. Sonic 3 is slightly ahead of Mufasa domestically, but close.

“There's no conspiracy because both films are doing relatively well,” Scott Mendelsohn, the industry's leading box office analyst, who runs Outside Scoop on Substacknarrated /Film. “Mufasa: The Lion King has earned slightly more in its final opening days, but both films are as good as (if not better than) their respective expectations and budgets.”

Although “Mufasa” has a bigger budget ($200 million compared to $120 million for “Sonic 3”), as far as raw numbers go, Disney's “Lion King” prequel has sold more tickets worldwide. What motivation does Disney have to mess with these numbers? “Disney isn't buying Box Office Mojo and The Numbers to hide the numbers for 'Sonic the Hedgehog 3' because neither movie has anything to hide,” Mendelsohn added.

granted, 2019 remake of 'The Lion King' grosses a staggering $1.66 billion worldwidebecoming one of the biggest films of all time. So to some extent, the performance of this new film so far could be considered a relative disappointment. But for a company as big as Disney, that's hardly enough to justify any kind of interference. Yet for some reason people were ready and willing to believe it. Was it motivated by hardcore “Sonic” fandom? Was it hatred of Disney? Either way, it is misplaced and unfounded.