Sonic the Hedgehog set a record for the best opening weekend for a video game film, earning $57 million at the domestic box office in just three days, surpassing last year's record set by Detective Pikachu , which earned around $55 million.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Blue Blur” grossed $68 million domestically in its four-day run. Sonic the Hedgehog opened with $21 million, narrowly beating Detective Pikachu , which grossed about $20 million on its first day of release, May 10, 2019.
Sonic the Hedgehog was originally scheduled to hit theaters in November 2019, two weeks before Disney's Frozen 2, which broke all records and became the highest-grossing animated film of all time.
However, Sonic the Hedgehog received a makeover that made the lead character more relatable and appealing, so the film was released late on President's Day weekend, coinciding with Valentine's Day Friday.
Additionally, Sonic's four-day tally gives Paramount its best opening weekend since Mission: Impossible – Fallout , which was released in the summer of 2018. Terminator: Dark Fate was Paramount's best opening of 2019, grossing $29 million.
Essentially, Sonic the Hedgehog is very close to Detective Pikachu. Furthermore, Sonic the Hedgehog is the third video game movie to do better than 50% on Rotten Tomatoes, following Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s phenomenal performance in Rampage in 2018.
Things aren't looking so good for Birds of Prey. After a less than stellar debut, with $33 million in one weekend, the following weekend saw its grosses drop to $17 million (and an estimated $19 million over the four-day weekend). That's a 50% drop, which is especially bad for a holiday weekend.
