Box Office: Sonic The Hedgehog 2 races to a number one finish while Ambulance hits traffic

Sonic The Hedgehog 2 continued Paramount Pictures’ epic box office streak as of late with a pretty massive opening weekend while Michael Bay’s Ambulance hits major traffic to become his lowest opening to date.

Sonic The Hedgehog 2 raced beyond my predictions and box office tracking with a stellar $71 million opening weekend. Tracking had the film in the $50 million range while I predicted $55 million for its debut. The figure surpasses the $58 million opening of the first film back in 2020 and the number also represents a win for Jim Carrey. In terms of 3-day business, Sonic The Hedgehog 2 is the best domestic opening of his career, outpacing the $68 million debut of Bruce Almighty in 2003. The opening is also a new high point for video game adaptations as it takes the crown for best video game opening. The previous king was its predecessor so no harm in keeping the title within the family. What’s going to be fascinating to watch with this sequel will be its legs. The first Sonic The Hedgehog, despite finding success, was kneecapped a bit by the COVID-19 pandemic and the shuttering of movie theaters in March of 2020 following its release a month prior. Per Deadline, Sonic The Hedgehog made 50% of its final domestic gross of $148.9 million in its first four days of release. If the pandemic hadn’t happened, Sonic would’ve likely soared a bit higher. I’m sensing that word of mouth is going to be solid for this film as it earned an “A” CinemaScore from opening day moviegoers. The sequel should be able to dominate family business in the weeks ahead so it appears greenlighting that third movie ahead of the sequel’s release was a very good idea. Overseas, where the film opened in select markets ahead of its domestic debut last weekend, the film took in an additional $37 million to bring its global tally to $141 million.

Morbius took a major tumble in second place with a gross of $10.2 million this weekend. That’s an even bigger drop than I predicted at a massive 74%. Signs of this tumble were evident during the film’s opening weekend as it saw its Saturday business decline by 25%. Sony Pictures is VERY lucky they kept this one cheap at $75 million but I think it’s going to even fall short of that on the domestic front by the end of its run. To date, Morbius has grossed $57 million on the domestic front. Overseas grosses are going to help out a lot as the film has grossed $126.3 million worldwide.

In third place, we find The Lost City with a gross of $9.1 million. That’s a drop of 38% which is a much better hold than its weekend two showing. Paramount Pictures can boast two films in the top five this weekend with this release and Sonic The Hedgehog 2. Despite comedy and movies aimed at the female demographic having struggled as of late at the box office, The Lost City represents a bright spot and should be encouraging that this genre and the demo shouldn’t be ignored. To date, The Lost City has grossed $68.8 million at the domestic box office. The Lost City is still slowly rolling out overseas and has grossed $78.6 million worldwide.

Debuting disappointingly in fourth place is Ambulance with a gross of $8.7 million. I’m still wondering why this film didn’t connect with moviegoers, particularly the older male demographic that has been known to support films like this. Michael Bay is getting some of the best reviews of his career for the movie and those that did see it seemed to enjoy it by gracing it with an “A-” CinemaScore. It’s crazy that when Michael Bay actually puts a good product out there no one seems interested and now the result is the lowest domestic opening of his career. There isn’t enough goodwill or word of mouth to save the $40 million release at this point but I hope it finds an audience when it hits VOD and streaming because it really is one of the better films Bay has done and a nice little throwback to the action films of the past. Ambulance has already been open overseas in 68 markets and it’s not doing all that well internationally either. The film grossed an additional $2.8 million overseas to bring its global haul to $31 million.

Rounding out the top five is The Batman with a gross of $6.5 million. That’s a decline of 42% as it brings its domestic tally to an impressive $359 million. The film is going to fall short of $400 million by the end of its run but the figure is a win for Warner Bros. and their successful attempt to reinvent the franchise. Worldwide,The Batman has grossed a staggering $735.1 million.

Worthy of a mention in sixth place is Everything Everywhere All at Once with a gross of $6 million. The A24 release went wide this weekend after opening limited ahead of this weekend. It’s the best opening weekend of the year for a platform release and further proof that slowly rolling a film like this out is the best strategy. This is how you build buzz, especially for a truly unique film like this one. Critics loved the film at 97% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and I think it’s going to continue to see a nice little run at the box office. Is it too early to call this a potential Oscar contender? I hope Academy voters keep this film on their radar throughout the year. To date, Everything Everywhere All at Once has grossed $8.4 million since opening in limited release.

What are YOUR thoughts on this weekend’s box office results?