The holiday season always brings excitement to movie theaters. Families, friends, and fans gather to enjoy blockbusters that set the tone for festive cheer.
This year, one familiar blue character raced back onto the big screen, surprising many with a record-breaking debut.
“Sonic the Hedgehog 3” has taken the box office by storm, earning an impressive $62 million in its first weekend across 3,761 theaters in North America.
A Box Office Powerhouse
The film is backed by strong reviews and enthusiastic audiences, and has outpaced initial predictions of $55–60 million, according to 20minutos.
It’s the latest installment in the popular franchise based on Sega's beloved video game series.
Sonic has proven yet again that he’s not just fast on screen but a box office powerhouse.
The latest adventure sees Sonic teaming up with Tails and Knuckles to take on a new adversary, Shadow the Hedgehog.
Directed by Jeff Fowler and featuring Ben Schwartz as Sonic and Jim Carrey as the villainous Dr. Robotnik, the film continues to build on the franchise’s success.
The first two movies grossed a combined $725 million worldwide. Early projections suggest this third film could follow suit, especially with an international release scheduled for Christmas.
Paramount’s success with Sonic contrasts sharply with Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King.” The prequel brought in $35 million in its opening weekend.
While this was enough for second place, it fell far short of the $50 million analysts predicted.
With a hefty $200 million production cost and $100 million spent on marketing, the film has ground to make up, though its overseas debut has added $87.2 million to its global total.
Rounding out the weekend, Universal’s “Wicked” claimed third place with $13.5 million, narrowly beating Disney’s “Moana 2” at $13.1 million. Both films continue to perform steadily.
