'Sonic The Hedgehog' Makes Loud Noise At The Box Office With Record Opening

KEY POINTS

"Sonic The Hedgehog” created history by earning a total of $58 million during its first weekend
The figures are now the best debut figures for a movie based on a video game
"Parasite" continues its golden run at the U.S. box office

After facing a lot of backlash over mediocre visual effects, “Sonic The Hedgehog” enjoyed an impressive opening at the U.S. box office. The movie created history by earning a total of $58 million during its first weekend.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the video game adaptation edged out last year’s “Pokemon Detective Pikachu,” to become the biggest debut for a movie based on a video game. “Detective Pikachu” earned $54.3 million domestically during its opening weekend.

But “Sonic The Hedgehog” got an additional boost because of President’s Day and earned a whopping $12 million on Monday, taking its four-day total to $70 million. The figures are estimated to be one of the best in the scenario of a long weekend.

The movie not just dominated the North American box office but opened quite strongly in the international markets, too. Paramount’s fantasy movie accumulated more than $43 million globally and took its total earnings to $113 million through Monday. The movie has opened only in 40 markets as of late.

Sonic The Hedgehog - Ring — Sonic the Hedgehog holds a shiny golden ring in a screenshot from the upcoming live-action film. Sega

The movie chronicles the journey of Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz), a blue anthropomorphic hedgehog who can run at supersonic speeds and curl into a ball to attack enemies, helping police officer named Tom Wachowski(James Marsden) to prevent the evil Doctor Eggman (Jim Carrey) from capturing Sonic and using his powers for world domination.

Many movies based on video games are mostly expected to be flops or become barely successful enough to recoup their production costs. From the “Super Mario Bros.” movie in 1993 up to the “Warcraft” film in 2016, many of these movies are not only basic or downright awful when it comes to its stories but have also performed poorly in the market.

Interestingly, “Sonic The Hedgehog” currently has a score of 63% on review site Rotten Tomatoes.

Another big winner this weekend was none other than Bong Joon-Ho’s “Parasite.” The Academy Award-winning movie continues its golden run at the U.S. box office and earned more than $6.8 million. The film is feasting on the Oscar wins and has accumulated $44.5 million in North America.

"Parasite" cast (L-R) Song Kang-ho, Cho Yeo-jeong, director Bong Joon-ho, Lee Jung-eun, Choi Woo-shik, and Lee Sun-kyun pose with their trophies for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture during the SAG Awards in Los Angeles AFP / Jean-Baptiste Lacroix

According to Neon, the distributor of the movie, “Parasite” has seen the biggest jump for a Best Picture winner (245%).

On the other hand, Margot Robbie’s “Birds Of Prey” is failing to meet the expectations at the ticket-counters. The movie earned $19.9 million during the long weekend, taking its domestic total to $62.2 million.