It was bound to happen at some point. No movie stays #1 at the box office forever, and eventually, movie-goers are going to move on to the next big thing. Such is the case for Sonic the Hedgehog, as it’s just been revealed that the film, despite having led the box office for two whole weekends, has been unable to do so for a third.
Knocking the film off its pedestal is The Invisible Man, Universal Pictures’ new reimagining of the classic H.G. Wells story. Unlike Sonic, which is a lighthearted and fantastical adventure for all ages, the new take on The Invisible Man is both a brutal horror movie about an unseen terror and an exploration of the highly sensitive real-world issue of domestic abuse and the struggle survivors face just to be believed. It’s about as jarring a tonal shift as one can imagine.
Reports state that the film managed to take the top spot this weekend with a domestic debut of $29 million, in addition to an extra $20 million overseas to bring its total opening haul to $49.2 million. Its success, meanwhile, resulted in Sonic the Hedgehog being bumped down to the second place spot after only bringing in $16 million. Now that it’s been bumped off the top spot, it’s unlikely that it will ever regain it before it leaves theaters.
- The Invisible Man - $29,000,000
- Sonic the Hedgehog - $16,000,000
- Call of the Wild - $13,205,000
- My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising - $5,109,247
- Bad Boys for Life - $4,300,000
- Birds of Prey - $4,100,000
- Impractical Jokers: The Movie - $3,545,000
- 1917 - $2,670,000
- Brahms: The Boy II - $2,622,381
- Fantasy Island - $2,330,000
Still, while its momentum appears to be decreasing, the fact remains that Sonic the Hedgehog has done very well for itself so far. This weekend’s $16 million has brought the film’s total domestic gross to a respectable $128 million, which, combined with the $137.2 million it’s made abroad, brings the film’s total to a very respectable $265 million in just three weeks.
That’s definitely not bad for a movie that reportedly cost around $95 million to make and was once thought guaranteed to flop based on the immense backlash to the movie’s original design for Sonic. Even if it only ended up dominating the box office for two weeks, it’s hard to argue that Sonic the Hedgehog hasn’t been a success and won’t stand to make even more money before its time in cinemas is up.
Sonic the Hedgehog is now in theaters.
Source: Variety, Box Office Mojo