Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Races Far Past Morbius to Claim Top Spot at Box Office

Once again, Sonic the Hedgehog is the king of the box office. With the premiere of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in theaters, the sequel has pulled in a domestic haul of $71 million at the box office. This by far solidifies the speedster’s sequel as the No. 1 movie at the box office, putting it above the No. 2 movie, Morbius, by about $60 million. This is the strong opening that Paramount had been expecting for Sonic 2, justifying their plans to move forward with more sequels and a Knuckles spinoff series.

While the movie theater industry is still recovering from the pandemic era, fans were coming out in droves to see the new Sonic film. The original movie, released in early 2020 just ahead of the pandemic, pulled in $58 million for its opening weekend with the President’s Day holiday bumping it up to $70 million. The studio credits this success to Sonic the Hedgehog 2’s ability to appeal to both fans of the video games as well as people who’ve never played any of them.

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“This film did such a great job in service of the fans while not excluding general audiences. That’s a neat trick,” said Chris Aronson, Paramount’s president of domestic distribution, per Variety.

Morbius had a pretty solid opening weekend last week, but with its $10.2 million haul in the U.S. and Canada, the film’s performance has dropped by about 74%. Negative reviews certainly did not help that film keep up its momentum with its second weekend in theaters. At 17% on Rotten Tomatoes, the film is one of the lowest-rated Marvel movies ever released.

Related: Sonic the Hedgehog 2’s Colleen O’Shaughnessey Talks Taking Tails to the Big Screen

Ambulance Came Up Short for Michael Bay and Jake Gyllenhaal

Universal Pictures

Director Michael Bay’s new action film Ambulance underperformed with its debut, premiering in the No. 4 spot with $8.7 million. The film, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Eiza Gonzalex, follows two adoptive siblings who hijack an ambulance after a bank robbery gone wrong, taking two first responders hostage. It had a $40 million budget.

The Batman is still drawing crowds at theaters over a month past its theatrical premiere. The Matt Reeves-directed, Robert Pattinson-led superhero flick has pulled in another $6.5 million in the U.S. and Canada. After Everything Everywhere All at Once and Uncharted, Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home is still throwing more stacks of money onto its own monstrous haul, this time with another $625K. The 25th anniversary re-release of Selena and Ti West’s acclaimed slasher movie X rounded out the rest of the top 10.

You can see the full top 10 list for the domestic box office below, and you can also find more detailed information at The Numbers.

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Jeremy Dick
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Jeremy Dick has been a writer and editor since 2014. He is a self-professed horror expert, pop culture enthusiast, and Bob Saget fanatic.

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