Sonic the Hedgehog 2 raced home with the top spot during its opening weekend at the US box office, while it also performs strongly in the UK.
The speedy sequel took home $71 million. This means Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has smashed the record for the biggest-ever opening weekend for a video game movie adaptation. Impressively, that record was most recently held by the previous Sonic film which took just over $58 million during the same period when it premiered back in 2020. (figures from BoxOfficeMojo).
With Sonic 2's global takings boosting that $78 million up to $141 million at the time of writing, it's clear the family-friendly flick franchise has found plenty of fans. In our three-star Sonic 2 review, we said: "as a piece of family entertainment to kick off the Easter holiday, it’s colorful, action-packed and more than light-hearted enough to keep everybody amused. Even with that running time [122 minutes]"
Commenting on the runaway success of the blue blur, Paramount Theatrical Distribution boss Chris Aronson said: "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."
Aronson added: "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!” (via Deadline)
Sonic the Hedgehog 2's impressive debut puts Sonic the Hedgehog 2 far ahead of competing releases. Michael Bay's latest action romp, Ambulance debuted in fourth place.
Despite being relatively well-received by critics — in our Ambulance review, we said it was "Michael Bay at his best" — the latest dose of Bayhem has underperformed. The action-packed movie took home just $8.7 million over the weekend in the US. However, it has fared somewhat better overseas; including international takings brings the worldwide figure up to $31.1 million.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Ambulance are in theaters now. You should also head over to our guide to the new movies coming in 2022 if you're looking for more information on the biggest releases coming throughout the year.
