The above tweet from Frack's Sonic Deals states that it is related to the lack of "Sonic 3" daily numbers from the LonelyGoomba account. Indeed, the bill in question highlighted the lack of reported numbers in a tweet saying, “Sonic 3 isn't even listed on the daily box office anymore. Disney is clearly paying the website to sabotage Sonic 3 to make Mufasa look better smh”. However, right below that in the replies, the account also said "(just kidding about Disney bribing them)."

(Just kidding about Disney bribing them)

— LonelyGoomba (@LonelyGoomba) January 1, 2025

Even so, 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 intervene in daily box office reporting. For what purpose, I must ask? As of this writing, Mufasa has earned $342.5 million worldwide, while Sonic 3 has earned $210.5 million. Sonic 3 is a little ahead of Mufasa on home turf, but it's close.

"There's no conspiracy because both movies are doing relatively well," Scott Mendelsohn, a leading box office industry analyst who runs The outer ball of the substackstated /Film. "Mufasa: The Lion King has been earning a bit more in its last few opening days, but both films are as good (if not better) than they need to be for their respective expectations and budgets."

While "Mufasa" has a bigger budget ($200 million vs. $120 million for "Sonic 3"), in terms of raw numbers, Disney's "Lion King" prequel sold more tickets globally. What motivation does Disney have to mess with these numbers? "Disney isn't bribing Box Office Mojo and The Numbers to hide Sonic the Hedgehog 3 numbers because neither movie has anything to hide," Mendelsohn added.

Granted, The 2019 remake of The Lion King grossed a whopping $1.66 billion worldwidebecoming one of the biggest films of all time. So, on some level, the performance of this new film so far can be considered a relative disappointment. But for a company as big as Disney, it's hard to justify this kind of interference. Yet for whatever reason, people were ready and willing to believe this. Was it motivated by hardcore Sonic fandom? Was it hatred of Disney? In any case, it is wrong and baseless.