The Lion King” roared to the top of the U.K.-Ireland box office in its debut weekend with £4.4 million ($5.5 million), according to numbers from Comscore through Dec. 23. As the holiday season reaches its peak,

In the holiday season battle of big-budget family movies, Paramount Pictures’ “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” sped past the Walt Disney Co.’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” to take the top spot at the box office.

Paramount/Original Film’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” has taken the No. 1 spot at the pre-Christmas box office over Disney’s “Mufasa” by a much wider margin than projected, earning an estimated $62 million opening from 3,761 locations compared to $35 million from 4,100 locations for the “Lion King” prequel.