Updated: “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” has powered to the top of box office charts while “Mufasa: The Lion King” is getting trampled in its first weekend of release.

Paramount’s third “Sonic” adventure has opened at No. 1 with $60 million from 3,761 North American theaters. Monday’s final number was below Sunday’s estimate of $62 million. Bolstered by positive reviews and strong audience scores, though, the film still landed on the higher end of initial expectations of $55 million to $60 million and looks to remain a holiday hit through the new year. “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” was tracking for a trilogy-low start but instead opened above the original 2020 “Sonic the Hedgehog” ($58 million in February) and just below the 2022 sequel (a series-best $72 million in March).

“As we’ve seen this franchise’s audience grow, we saw a window in the marketplace in December where we thought we could stand out,” says Paramount’s president of domestic distribution Chris Aronson.