“Sonic the Hedgehog” Goes Another Round

By Kip Mooney • On • In Weekend Box Office Report Weekend Box Office Report Comments Off on “Sonic the Hedgehog” Goes Another Round

BOX OFFICE REPORT

February 21-23, 2020

(estimates from BoxOfficeMojo.com)

TOP 5

Sonic the Hedgehog  $26.3 million
The Call of the Wild $24.8 million
Birds of Prey  $7 million
Brahms: The Boy II  $5.9 million
Bad Boys for Life $5.8 million

Taking another lap around the box office, no other movies could catch Sonic the Hedgehog. With an estimated $26.3 million, that makes it the second movie of 2020 to pass $100 million. At this rate, it's likely to surpass last year's Detective Pikachu to become the biggest video game movie ever. It also makes it Jim Carrey's first live-action movie to cross that threshold since 2005's Fun with Dick and Jane.

The Call of the Wild proved irresistible to dog lovers, with a much larger opening weekend than any of the recent movies about beloved pooches. Disney's off to a fine start in 2020. And while last week was a typical drop-off for comic book movies, it may officially be time to panic about Birds of Prey, which took a nosedive in weekend three. Earning only $7 million, the Margot Robbie-led action flick still hasn't gotten to $75 million. Being the first is often great, but being the first DCEU movie to not make at least $100 million? Not so much.

Brahms, the horror sequel that caused many people to ask, "There was a Boy 1?" earned a less-than-spectacular $5.9 million. But like it's predecessor, it only cost around $10 million, so it can be counted a success as early as next week. Bad Boys for Life is off enjoying its fifth weekend in the top 5, as it's close to becoming the first movie of the year to cross $200 million.

Outside the top 5:

  • This Weekend's Indie Champ: Emma, the latest adaptation of Jane Austen's beloved romantic comedy, starring Anya Taylor-Joy in the lead role. The film averaged $46,000 on just five screens.
  • The Photograph is fading fast. The romance starring LaKeith Stanfield and Issa Rae dropped 77 percent, down to 10th place. It's now earned just $17.6 million.
  • Portrait of a Lady on Fire continues to be on fire. Adding 108 screens, the film has earned nearly $1.5 million to date.

Next weekend:

There's only one new wide release and – you guessed it – it's a horror movie. The Invisible Man is Dark Universe Reboot 2.0. Leigh Whannell (Saw, Upgrade) turns the classic horror story into a domestic violence parable starring Elisabeth Moss. It's kind of tough to predict how this will do, but I'll say it strikes a nerve and opens with $30 million.

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About Kip Mooney

Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.