With a sky-high opening weekend for Sonic the Hedgehog 2, are we finally seeing some signs that theatrical audiences will diversify into other markets than eager superhero fans? Family-friendly fare has long been a coveted box office property, and one needed for the wider Box Office recovery. Blake & Wang P.A entertainment lawyer, Brandon Blake, looks at the facts.
Strong Performer
Sonic was always going to be an attractive property to test the family market with. It’s a well-liked IP in general, and its predecessor shattered standing ‘video game movie’ records. It’s also pulled in decent reviews, including an A from Cinemascore.
With a budget of only $110M, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has already managed to tear down some records of its own, bringing in $71M already over its first Friday to Sunday weekend. It’s also one of very few child-centric properties to hit cinemas in recent months, with Disney opting to shuffle most of its Pixar releases directly to streaming. Its next significant challenger will be Lightyear, set to release in June.
The First $200M Video Game Movie?
All of which gives it a solid chance of becoming the first video game movie to topple $200M. Why, however? Sonic 2 highlights a lack of the standard ‘IP exploitation, CGI characters, and Easter Eggs’ model video game spin-offs have followed previously. Instead, we see a decent child-aimed movie with less pandering to their nostalgic parents than we’ve seen before. Instead, it’s a solid attempt to be a stand-alone movie without disregarding the source material entirely.
Of course, this is no grand cinematic masterpiece. But it is very good at being exactly what it needs to be to have life and vibrancy of its own. And it’s one of the first ‘new’ IP franchises for Paramount to truly be successful on its own merits. For a studio that was fast running out of gas in 2016, it’s a refreshing sight.
Paramount, in fact, may be an odd little success of the post-pandemic landscape. With Sonic 2 buoying their bottom line, and a surprisingly successful revival for their Scream and Jackass IPs, as well as the original comedy The Lost City in the bag, they’ve managed to recreate themselves some relevancy few expected. That Sonic 2 also stands a great chance of pulling another key demographic- families- back to the cinema is a nice cherry on the top.
Film and Television 