SEGA’s world-famous mascotSonic the Hedgehogwill be racing into theaters in just a few weeks, and box office estimates being published by entertainment news sites like The Wrap suggest he could pick up an estimated $40-45 million over the film’s opening weekend.
Jeff Fowler’sSonic the Hedgehog, which is being produced by Paramount Pictures and stars Ben Schwartz ofParks and Recreationfame as the fastest thing alive, is gearing up to release on Valentine’s Day: Friday, February 14. As a result, the film has the benefit of opening on a long holiday weekend, as February 17 is Presidents' Day in the United States.
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Another reason why the movie might have such good projections is likely due to its infamy.Sonic the Hedgehogas a series is partially known for some beautifully disastrous games, and this live-action venture threatened to follow in those footsteps with a character design so abhorred that the film was delayed soTyson Hesse could help recreate Sonic.
For comparison’s sake, Warner Bros.‘Detective Pikachu(which stars another cute, well-known mascot and alsoreceived a PG rating from the Motion Picture Association of America) made just over $54 million during its opening weekend in May 2019. At the end of its 36 weeks in theaters, it made over $431 million on a $150 million budget.
Despite all the work that went intoredesigning Sonic, it’s estimated that the entire process only added about $5 million to the production. With the film’s initial budget around $90 million,Sonic the Hedgehog’s chances of making its money back are far more likely than the CG intensiveDetective Pikachu.
Yet some argue that becauseSonic the Hedgehogis a movie adaptation of a video game, one subsection of cinema that has historically not succeeded,it still stands a chance of failing in spite of the redesign. Because the reported $40-45 million opening weekend numbers are just estimated projections, it’s entirely possible that the movie could still flop.
Yet it also has a lot of things going for it: A decent budget, plenty of name recognition (for better or worse — evenEddie Murphy lampooned the original Sonic character design in aSaturday Night Livesketch), and an opening weekend full of kids looking to have some fun during a day off from school. People love an underdog story, and Sonic coming out of this particular race in first would certainly qualify.
Sonic the Hedgehogwill release in theaters on February 14th.
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