Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is not just a great adaptation – Game Informer gave it an 8.5 out of 10 – but it’s also a record holder amongst video game movies.
That’s because it had the best opening weekend for any video game movie ever, coming in first place at the movies after earning $71 million at the domestic box office, as reported by Variety. With Sonic the Hedgehog 2’s impressive $71 million haul, Sega and Paramount’s video game adaptation beat out Sony and Marvel’s Morbius and Michael Bay’s Ambulance. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 took the record it now holds – best opening weekend for a video game movie – from, funnily enough, Sonic the Hedgehog, which had a $58 million opening weekend back in 2020.
Globally, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 made even more money, adding $37 million this weekend across 53 different territories. The movie was released on April 8 here in North America, but in some places, it’s been in theaters as early as March 30. After this $71 million domestic box office debut and the accompanying $37 million international weekend, Variety reports that Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has now brought in $141 million overall.
“This film did such a great job in service of the fans while not excluding general audiences,” Paramount’s president of domestic distribution, Chris Aronson, told the publication. “That’s a neat trick.”
At $141 million so far, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has a good chance at overtaking the first Sonic movie, which ended its box office run at around $319 million when the COVID-19 pandemic began. Variety reports that Sonic the Hedgehog 2 cost Paramount $90 million to make. The film may be already in the green for the studio, although that $90 million might not include marketing costs. Regardless, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a hit.
For more about the movie, read Game Informer’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2 review, and then watch this Game Informer video interview where we chat with Ben Schwartz, James Marsden, and more about this sequel. Check out Game Informer’s ranking of every mainline Sonic the Hedgehog game after that.
[Source: Variety]
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