Sonic 2 leaves the rest of the Top 10, including fellow newcomer Ambulance, in the dust.
Sonic the Hedgehog was the last blockbuster of the pre-pandemic era. Opening on Valentine's Day weekend 2020, it opened to $58 million, and was up to $146 million by the time theaters were closed a month later. While Covid probably cost the film a few million, it had earned enough that Paramount was happy to greenlight the sequel teased during the film's mid-credit sequence.
Said sequel has arrived, and despite reviews not nearly as enthusiastic as they were for the first film, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 easily raced to the top, opening to an unexpectedly huge $72.1 million. The sequel, which sees the CGI Sonic (voiced again by Ben Schwartz) once again battle the mad scientist Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) over a magical emerald, joined by two more beloved characters from the video games: the flying fox Tails and the echidna Knuckles (voiced by Idris Elba). This looks certain to become the year's third $100 million grosser by the end of the upcoming Easter weekend, and fans can expect the third part, teased again in mid-credits sequence, in 2024 or 2025.
Falling a harsh 74% from last weekend's underwhelming debut, Morbius, the widely panned Spider-Man spin-off, could only muster $10.2 million, for a ten-day total of $57.1 million. At this point, it seems almost certain that Jared Leto's vampire-like anti-hero won't hit the century mark, making future outings with the character unlikely.
Coming in third, action rom-com The Lost City took in $9 million for a gross of $68.7 million. That's enough to push it past Dog, Channing Tatum's other (and much lower-budgeted) movie of the year, but its now beginning to look doubtful that it hits $100 million. Still, it's a bright spot for Paramount, which also released Sonic, and can now boast that it has 4 2022 films with grosses above $50 million (the other two being Scream and Jackass Forever). As of right now, no other studio has more than two films above that number.
Opening disappointingly in 4th is Ambulance. The action-thriller, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as bank robbers who hijack the titular vehicle while being chased by seemingly the entirety of the LAPD, could only manage $8.7 million, easily the worst opening of Michael Bay's directorial career. It probably doesn't help that movies like this one were already migrating to streaming services even before the pandemic (Bay's last film, 6 Underground, was made for Netflix). This one looks to run out of gas under $25 million.
In fifth, The Batman has surprisingly lost a lot of altitude fairly fast, as it took in $6.5 million, for a total of $359 million. $400 million, which once looked almost guaranteed, is now looking out of reach, especially with news breaking this week that the film will already be hitting HBO Max next Monday. Looking at what the Christmas Eve debut of Encanto on Disney+ did to that film's box office foretells The Batman's grim box office future going forward. The same fate very well might be awaiting Sonic, as it will likely be on Paramount+ by Memorial Day.
Jumping to sixth, after expanding to 1,250 theaters, is trippy sci-fi actioner comedy Everything Everywhere All At Once, which has emerged from seemingly nowhere to become the cult title of the spring. The film brought in $6.1 million to bring its total to $8.4 million. Unlike some of the titles ahead of it on the chart, the future for this one looks bright, as good word of mouth and strong holds could lift it as high as $30 million.
In 7th, long-running hit Uncharted is the last movie to gross over $1 million for the weekend, taking in $2.6 million for a gross of $142.9 million.
Rounding out the Top 10 this weekend, with grosses of under $1 million, are anime Jujitsu Kaisen 0, massive hit Spider-Man: No Way Home, in what is very possibly its final weekend in the Top 10, and fast-fading Indian epic RRR. The film's total grosses now stand at $33.1 million, $803.8 million, and $13.7 million.
This weekend sees two new wide releases. Opening today, ahead of the Easter holiday is Father Stu, a Christian-based film starring Mark Wahlberg as a failed boxer and two-bit criminal who turns his life around and eventually becomes a priest. Unlike most faith-based films, this one doesn't sugarcoat the profanity, which is why it's the rare one of these that has an R rating. Of course, if there's anyone who knows how to get devout Christians to see an R-rated faith-based film, it's Mel Gibson, who plays Wahlberg's father. The film was written and directed by first-time filmmaker Rosaland Ross, who just happens to be Gibson's current girlfriend. Despite co-starring in Uncharted, Wahlberg has been having a tough time box-office-wise lately, and we'll see if his newest can attract some business. It's likely to be blown out by this week's other newcomer, which opens Friday. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore brings the Harry Potter prequel series back after a pandemic-induced 3-1/2 year hiatus, during which Johnny Depp, who played the dark wizard Grindelwald in the first two instalments, was replaced by Mads Mikkelsen (a wise move, given the headlines about Depp this week. Unfortunately, they didn't replace Ezra Miller, who also returns). No one much liked the second installment, so we'll see if putting the name of one of the franchise's most beloved characters (and played in this series by Jude Law) front and center in the title will help juice ticket sales. This seems likely to open at #1, but if Sonic holds up well, it could race to the top again. We'll find out next week.
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