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'Sonic 3' and 'Mufasa' Battle for No. 1 at the Holiday Box Office

This image released by Paramount Pictures and Sega of America shows the character Sonic, voiced by Ben Schwartz, in a scene from "Sonic the Hedgehog 3". (Paramount Pictures and Sega of America, Inc. via AP)
This image released by Paramount Pictures and Sega of America shows the character Sonic, voiced by Ben Schwartz, in a scene from "Sonic the Hedgehog 3". (Paramount Pictures and Sega of America, Inc. via AP)
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'Sonic 3' and 'Mufasa' Battle for No. 1 at the Holiday Box Office

This image released by Paramount Pictures and Sega of America shows the character Sonic, voiced by Ben Schwartz, in a scene from "Sonic the Hedgehog 3". (Paramount Pictures and Sega of America, Inc. via AP)
This image released by Paramount Pictures and Sega of America shows the character Sonic, voiced by Ben Schwartz, in a scene from "Sonic the Hedgehog 3". (Paramount Pictures and Sega of America, Inc. via AP)

Two family films dominated the holiday box office this week, with "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" winning the three-day weekend over "Mufasa" by a blue hair.

Paramount's Sonic movie earned $38 million, while "Mufasa" brought in $37.1 million from theaters in the US and Canada, according to studio estimates Sunday. On a normal weekend counting Friday, Saturday and Sunday ticket purchases, the winner would be somewhat clear.

But when the Christmas holiday falls on a Wednesday as it did this year, the studios look at two sets of numbers: The five-day earnings and the three-day weekend earnings. With the five-day tally, The Walt Disney Co.'s "Mufasa" had the edge, bringing in $63.8 million.

It all adds up to a rather robust theatrical landscape, helped by the continued success of "Wicked" and "Moana 2," which are on their sixth and fifth weekends, respectively.

The vampire horror "Nosferatu" also debuted fairly triumphantly. Robert Eggers' modern reimagining of a 1922 silent film starring Nicholas Hoult and Lily-Rose Depp rose to the top of a starry batch of Christmas Day newcomers, which included the Bob Dylan biopic "A Complete Unknown," with Timothée Chalamet; the drama "Babygirl" with Nicole Kidman; and "The Fire Inside," about boxer Claressa Shields.

"Nosferatu" landed in third place with $21.2 million from the weekend and $40.3 million from its first five days. Not accounting for inflation, it had the best Christmas Day opening ever for a genre film, with $11.6 million (besting "The Faculty's" $4.4 million in 1998). Focus Features released the R-rated film in 2,992 theaters.

It was a gamble to open "Nosferatu" on Christmas, when family films or all-ages blockbusters tend to be prioritized. But it paid off, attracting the coveted 18 to 34-year-old demographic to theaters.

"It was a risky move, but we knew that we had such a great film," said Lisa Bunnell, who leads distribution for Focus Features. "A lot of people thought we were insane. But I think the more that people thought we were crazy, the more we all felt like it was the right thing to do."

The response to the unconventional counter-programming was gratifying. The sarcophagus-inspired popcorn buckets are even reselling for over $100.

"People keep talking about 'how do we get people back into the movies?' I think the only way you can get people to go back is to shake it up," Bunnell said. "You don't just spoon feed them the same things over and over again."

The Bob Dylan movie, directed by James Mangold, also got off to a bright start with $11.6 million over the weekend and $23.2 million since Christmas. The 5-day total is a record for Searchlight Pictures since Disney acquired the company in early 2019. It's been well received by both critics (96% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences (A on CinemaScore) and will likely get more of a boost from the awards race.

"Babygirl," an A24 release from filmmaker Halina Reijn, played on 2115 screens, earning $4.4 million over the weekend and $7.2 million since Christmas. The film stars Kidman as a married, buttoned-up CEO who begins an affair with a young intern at the company, played by Harris Dickinson. Kidman won the best acting prize for her performance at the Venice Film Festival.

"The Fire Inside," from Amazon MGM Studios, meanwhile got a bit lost in the mix despite strong reviews. It has earned a total of $4.3 million, with $2 million coming from weekend showings where it played in 2006 theaters.

Thanksgiving releases continued to perform well through the Christmas timeframe. Fourth place went to "Wicked," which earned another $19.5 million, bringing its domestic total to $424.2 million. On Tuesday, the lavish movie musical will also be available to rent or purchase at home. It's a move that has drawn some critics who believe making it available at home after only 40 days in theaters will cannibalize profits.

"Moana 2" rounded out the top five films this weekend with $18.2 million. The Disney movie has made $882.5 million globally and is closing in on $400 million domestically.

Christmas Day itself was massive for the industry, with $61 million in ticket sales. Thursday was nearly as big, with $50 million.

"Every day was like Saturday at the box office because of the way the holidays lined up," said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore's senior media analyst.

Comscore is projecting that the year will net out with about $8.75 billion in domestic box office receipts. That's down about 3.3% from last year, which cracked $9 billion, and the pre-pandemic normal of $11 billion.

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Blake Lively Sues ‘It Ends With Us’ Director Justin Baldoni Alleging Harassment and Smear Campaign

Blake Lively attends the LACMA Art+Film Gala at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in Los Angeles, California, on November 2, 2024. (AFP)
Blake Lively attends the LACMA Art+Film Gala at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in Los Angeles, California, on November 2, 2024. (AFP)
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Blake Lively Sues ‘It Ends With Us’ Director Justin Baldoni Alleging Harassment and Smear Campaign

Blake Lively attends the LACMA Art+Film Gala at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in Los Angeles, California, on November 2, 2024. (AFP)
Blake Lively attends the LACMA Art+Film Gala at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in Los Angeles, California, on November 2, 2024. (AFP)

Actor Blake Lively sued "It Ends With Us" director Justin Baldoni and several others tied to the romantic drama on Tuesday, alleging harassment and a coordinated campaign to attack her reputation for coming forward about her treatment on the set.

The federal lawsuit was filed in New York just hours after Baldoni and many of the other defendants in Lively's suit sued The New York Times for libel for its story on her allegations, saying the newspaper and the star were the ones conducting a coordinated smear campaign.

The lawsuits are major developments in a story emerging from the surprise hit film that has already made major waves in Hollywood and led to discussions of the treatment of female actors both on sets and in media.

Lively's suit said that Baldoni, the film's production company Wayfarer Studios and others engaged in "a carefully crafted, coordinated, and resourced retaliatory scheme to silence her, and others, from speaking out."

She accuses Baldoni and the studio of embarking on a "multi-tiered plan" to damage her reputation following a meeting in which she and her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, addressed "repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behavior" by Baldoni and a producer Jamey Heath, who is also named in both lawsuits.

The plan, the suit said, included a proposal to plant theories on online message boards, engineer a social media campaign and place news stories critical of Lively.

The alleged mistreatment on set included comments from Baldoni on the bodies of Lively and other women on the set.

Baldoni's attorney Bryan Freedman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Lively's lawsuit. But he previously called the same allegations "completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious."

Lively's lawsuit comes the same day as the libel lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by Baldoni and others against the Times seeking at least $250 million. The Times stood by its reporting and said it plans to "vigorously defend" against the lawsuit.

Others who are defendants in Lively's suit and plaintiffs in the libel suit include Wayfarer and crisis communications expert Melissa Nathan, whose text message was quoted in the headline of the Dec. 21 Times story: "‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine."

Written by Megan Twohey, Mike McIntire and Julie Tate, the story was published just after Lively filed a legal complaint with the California Civil Rights Department, a predecessor to her new lawsuit.

The libel lawsuit says the newspaper "relied almost entirely on Lively’s unverified and self-serving narrative, lifting it nearly verbatim while disregarding an abundance of evidence that contradicted her claims and exposed her true motives. But the Times did not care."

A spokesperson for the Times, Danielle Rhoades, said in a statement that "our story was meticulously and responsibly reported."

"It was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including the text messages and emails that we quote accurately and at length in the article. To date, Wayfarer Studios, Mr. Baldoni, the other subjects of the article and their representatives have not pointed to a single error," the statement said.

But Baldoni's lawsuit says that "If the Times truly reviewed the thousands of private communications it claimed to have obtained, its reporters would have seen incontrovertible evidence that it was Lively, not Plaintiffs, who engaged in a calculated smear campaign."

Lively is not a defendant in the libel lawsuit. Her lawyers said in a statement that "Nothing in this lawsuit changes anything about the claims advanced in Ms. Lively’s California Civil Rights Department Complaint, nor her federal complaint, filed earlier today."

The romantic drama "It Ends With Us," an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling 2016 novel, was released in August, exceeding box office expectations with a $50 million debut. But the movie’s release was shrouded by speculation over discord between Lively and Baldoni. Baldoni took a backseat in promoting the film while Lively took centerstage along with Reynolds, who was on the press circuit for "Deadpool & Wolverine" at the same time.

Lively came to fame through the 2005 film "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants," and bolstered her stardom on the TV series "Gossip Girl" from 2007 to 2012. She has since starred in films including "The Town" and "The Shallows."

Baldoni starred in the TV comedy "Jane the Virgin," directed the 2019 film "Five Feet Apart" and wrote "Man Enough," a book pushing back against traditional notions of masculinity. He responded to concerns that "It Ends With Us" romanticized domestic violence, telling the AP at the time that critics were "absolutely entitled to that opinion."

He was dropped by his agency, WME, immediately after Lively filed her complaint and the Times published its story. The agency represents both Lively and Reynolds.

Baldoni's attorney, Freedman, said in a statement on the libel suit that "the New York Times cowered to the wants and whims of two powerful ‘untouchable’ Hollywood elites."

"In doing so, they pre-determined the outcome of their story, and aided and abetted their own devastating PR smear campaign designed to revitalize Lively’s self-induced floundering public image and counter the organic groundswell of criticism amongst the online public," he added. "The irony is rich."