After the success of the original Sonic the Hedgehog back in 2020, it was a foregone conclusion that this weekend’s Sonic 2 would be a hit at the box office. People love Sonic, they love Jim Carrey, and they love themselves some Idris Elba doing surprisingly good in roles you wouldn’t have normally pegged him for. Add the fact that there hasn’t really been a big theatrical release family film yet for 2022, and is it any wonder that the Blue Blur’s sophomore outing is doing well in its opening weekend?
Per Forbes, the Sega sequel has earned $71 million stateside and $141 million overall. Domestically, that $71M isn’t a massive step up from the first film’s $70 million debut on Presidents Day weekend 2020, but it’s a good sign that film will have some legs, pardon the pun. According to Deadline, it’s also now the biggest domestic opening weekend of Jim Carrey’s career, beating out the $68 million start that Bruce Almighty gained all the way back in 2003. The film’s gotten decent reviews overall, but it’s families and Sonic fans who are really turning up for this one, singing its praises as an improvement over the original film. It didn’t hurt that Paramount had early screenings beginning on Wednesday, and word of mouth has particularly called the film a great showcase for the furry trio of Sonic (Ben Schwartz), Elba’s Knuckles, and Colleen O’Shaughnessy’s Tails. We won’t have to wait too long to see them again, as a third movie is already in development, along with a spinoff for the knuckly echidna in the near future.
Outside of Sonic, the other two big releases of the weekend—Michael Bay’s heist thriller Ambulance and the Michelle Yeoh showcase Everything Everywhere All at Once—have had decent domestic openings. The R-rated Ambulance, starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Eiza Gonzalez, and Jake Gyllenhaal has earned $8.7 million in North America, leading to an overall $31.1M globally, since the film released in overseas markets nearly a month ago. Meanwhile, after two weeks of limited screenings across the country, Everything Everywhere’s domestic wide release open came in at $6 million, contributing the most to the film’s overall $9 million take. This morning, A24 announced their plans to expand the film’s theatrical run in the coming weeks.
Time will tell how Ambulance and Everywhere fare for the rest of their respective runs. For movies, April looks to be a pretty big month with Nicholas Cage’s Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent and The Northman landing on April 22. Combined with the sequel to a certain wizard’s movie next month, it’s going to be a busy time at the movies for the spring and summer season.
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