The overwhelmingly positive reaction to the first Sonic the Hedgehog movie paved the way for the sequel, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, to race past the first’s opening weekend gross. The second snared $71M, significantly higher than the first’s $58M. Sonic 2 did better on Saturday than Friday, which is a rarity, but this is sort of a family movie, so it makes sense that it would benefit from daytime matinees.
Racing To The Top
Remarkably, this marks the highest three-day domestic opening for star Jim Carrey who plays the film’s villain, Dr. Robotnik. It may stand as his highest-grossing opening weekend ever, as Carrey has announced that he is retiring from acting. Carrey’s previous highest-grossing three-day opening was Bruce Almighty which raked in $68M in 2003.
Paramount Theatrical Distribution head, Chris Aronson declared:
“Sonic 2‘s record opening is a victory for Paramount and for the industry at large. The filmmakers did an amazing job of crafting a film that is both in service of Sonic’s legions of fans as well as the general and family audience. Growing a franchise is no small feat and having an opening +22% over the first film is a remarkable achievement. Kudos to the filmmakers and to the marketing and distributions teams at Paramount for doing a fantastic job in bringing the film into the global marketplace!”
Jeff Fowler directed Sonic the Hedgehog 2, which features the voice of Ben Schwartz as the title character. Idris Elba voices Knuckles with Colleen O’Shaughnessey as Tails. The live-action cast includes James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Natasha Rothwell, Adam Pally, and Shemar Moore.
Critics didn’t love Sonic 2. It has a 67% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences disagreed. Its RT-certified audience score is a glowing 97%. Exiting audiences gave Sonic 2 an A via CinemaScore and 87% positive and 74% recommend via PostTrak.
Morbius Drops To #2
Predictably, last week’s #1 movie, Morbius, slipped to #2. As we move forward into the heated summer blockbuster period, more and more competition arrives on almost a weekly basis.
But even without competition, Morbius was not nearly as well-received as Sonic 2. Its RT-certified audience score is 70%, its CinemaScore was C+, and through PostTrak, it only earned a 62% positive and 47% recommend.
Even so, Morbius took in another $10.2M in its sophomore frame.
The other new movie that was expected to make a big splash this weekend was Ambulance directed by Michael Bay and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Eiza González. It… did not make a big splash. Earning $8.7M, Ambulance landed at #4.
It’s a Michael Bay movie, so it was kind of a given that critics wouldn’t like it. But its RT ranking of 69% isn’t awful. The audiences were divided. It has a decent 86% audience score on RT. And its CinemaScore is a great A-! But via PostTrak, Ambulance has a lowly 77% positive and 61% recommend.
The Lost City dropped to #3, ahead of Ambulance. Rounding out the Top Five is The Batman in its sixth weekend. It earned an additional $6.5M.
Check out the Top Five below:
-
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Paramount) – 3-day $71M/Wk 1
- Morbius (Sony) – 3-day $10.2M/Total $57M/Wk 2
- The Lost City (Paramount) – 3-day $9.1M/Total $68.8M/ Wk 3
- Ambulance (Universal) – 3-day $8.7M/Wk 1
- The Batman(Warner Bros.) – 3-day: $6.5M/Total $358.8M/Wk 6
Can Fantastic Beasts Accomplish A Fantastic Feat?
Can Sonic outrace Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore? We’ll find out next weekend when the latter releases. Fantastic Beasts will likely snare the #1 spot but it’s facing quite a few challenges. First of all, this isn’t Harry Potter. It’s related, but minus the kid protagonists, audiences don’t seem all that interested in this franchise. And Warner Bros. may have overextended itself by greenlighting five movies from the get-go.
*Sigh* Then there is the problematic behavior of people involved in this series. Creator and screenwriter J.K. Rowling has come under fire for anti-transgender comments online. Johnny Depp was accused of domestic violence. He lost a court case in an attempt to debunk those. He was fired from the franchise, although he was still paid for a second movie (this one). Mad Mikkelson replaced him in the role of villain Gellert Grindelwald. And just weeks ago, co-star Ezra Miller was arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct in a Hawaii bar after attempting to assault two individuals among other outbursts. This came two years after he was filmed assaulting a woman at a bar in Iceland, although he wasn’t charged in that instance.
Will all this behind-the-scenes controversy negatively impact this franchise which was already fighting an uphill battle to live up to a blockbuster brand?
We’ll see next weekend. Will you be checking out Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore?
