Paramount’sSonic the Hedgehog 2surpasses box office projections, earning an exciting $71 million to close its premiere weekend. Projections indicated the video game adaptation would take home roughly $60 million, but the Paramount family-centric film blasted past the number to comfortably dethroneMorbiusas the highest domestic earner over the weekend.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2centered around the emblematic blue hedgehog and his exhilarating quest to preventJim Carrey’s Dr. Robotnikfrom obtaining an immensely powerful mystical emerald that could destroy civilizations. Ben Schwartz returned as the voice of Sonic, alongside other notable cast members reprising their roles from the previous film. However, the newest additions to the cast sparked the vicious wave of excitement ushered in by audiences eager to see Tails and Knuckles in live-action form. Idris Elba took the reigns behind Knuckles, while Colleen O’Shaughnessey voiced Tails. During its Thursday night previews, the film performed well, generating $6.3 million heading into the weekend.
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The video game adaption made its first on-screen appearance in 2020 over a four-day holiday weekend, generating $70 million, which was impressive for a genre many were pessimistic about due to past failures. The sequel, however, looks to build even more optimism, surpassing its predecessor and showcasing the renewed enthusiasm in families to return to the theater.Sonic the Hedgehog 2opened with a $26.5 million outing on Friday, which stayed pretty consistent heading into Saturday, which saw the film accumulate $26.8 million by the end of the night. Numbers dipped somewhat the following day, but the film still managed to reign in an impressive $17.7 million to bring its overall weekend total to $71 million.
However, the Sonic sequel wasn’t the only film to hit theaters this weekend.Michael Bay’sAmbulancehit the big screen, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Eiza Gonzalez. Unfortunately, the action-film failed to generate the same wave of excitement accumulated by the iconic character, earning $8.7 million to close out its premiere opening weekend. The final total was good enough to place the Bay project fourth in the domestic box office standings, but the mediocre performance helped showcase the changing landscaping of the movie-going experience. While the film’s reception was decent, the $8.7 million indicates that extravagant action pictures may be unfavorable for most audiences.
Morbiusended the weekend in second place, earning $10.2 million to close out its second weekend in the theaters. The Sony film ended its opening weekend atop the domestic box office with an accumulated $39 million total, which dropped the following week significantly. The 74% drop forMorbiusis the worst second-weekend decrease in box office revenue for a comic book superhero movie. The previous low was 2019’sDark Phoenix, which saw a 72% drop in its second weekend.The Lost Cityfinished the weekend in third place with a $9.1 million performance, followed byAmbulanceandThe Batmanto round the top five.
This week audience will see the arrival ofFantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, which looks to dethrone the iconic Sega character from the coveted top spot at the box office. Family-centric films are an attractive draw for most audiences, which bodes well for the third installment of theHarry Potterprequel. It’ll be interesting to see how Sonic will fair in its second week, but signs look promising for a continued successful run.
