Movie

While 'Sonic the Hedgehog 2' scores the biggest-ever opening weekend for a video game adaptation, the Jared Leto-starring Marvel superhero movie falls a catastrophic 74 percent on its second weekend.

• Apr 11, 2022

AceShowbiz - "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" is perhaps doing its victory lap now. Serving as a follow-up to 2020's "Sonic the Hedgehog", the live-action animated film scores a historic win upon its debut at the North American box office.

The Jeff Fowler-directed pic arrives atop the chart with an estimated $71 million on its opening weekend. It sets the biggest-ever opening weekend for a video game adaptation and surpasses its predecessor, which bowed at No. 1 with $58 million over the first three-day weekend.

Gaining mixed reviews with an approval rating of 66% on Rotten Tomatoes, "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" breaks the normal pattern in which "sequels slide a little bit," says Chris Aronson, president of domestic distribution for Paramount. "But we certainly bucked that trend," he adds, gushing that for a sequel to open 22% above the first is "quite remarkable."

"This is an outstanding opening," David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research, expresses the same optimism. "With solid reviews and very good audience scores, 'Sonic' is going to have a strong run."

Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian weighs in on how the "Sonic 2" impressive opening indicates audiences' behavior. "There's been some indication that they wanted to go back with movies like 'Sing 2', but it's moved in fits and starts," he says, "This says once and for all that families want to go back. It's a really good indicator of things to come for family films in 2022, with 'Lightyear' and the next 'Minions' movie."

Meanwhile, last week's newcomer and champion "Morbius" quickly falters. The adaptation of Marvel Comics character registers a catastrophic second-weekend drop with a 74% fall, only adding an estimated $10.4 million to its domestic gross.

At No. 3 is "The Lost City", which drops one slot with approximately $9.2 million. Bowing at No. 4 is new release "Ambulance". The action thriller from Michael Bay and starring Jake Gyllenhaal disappoints with only an estimated $8.7 million on its opening weekend against its reported $40 million budget.

Rounding out the top five this week is "The Batman", which adds an estimated $6.6 million to its domestic gross on its sixth weekend.

Top 10 of North America Box Office (Apr.08-10, 2022):

1. "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" - $71 million
2. "Morbius" - $10.2 million
3. "The Lost City" - $9.2 million
4. "Ambulance" - $8.7 million
5. "The Batman" - $6.6 million
6. "Everything Everywhere All at Once" - $6 million
7. "Uncharted" - $2.6 million
8. "Spider-Man: No Way Home" - $625,000
9. "Selena (2022 Re-release)" - $402,280
10. "Sing 2" - $220,000