Weekend Wrap-Up: Sonic Repeats on Top, Call Makes it Close

February 25, 2020

Sonic the Hedgehog

It was a mixed weekend, but at least there was a relatively close race for top spot. This close race happened in part because The Call of the Wild beat expectations by a huge margin, but also because Sonic the Hedgehog fell faster than anticipated. This left the overall box office down 34% from last weekend to just $102 million, but drop-offs like this are normal for post-holiday weekend. Unfortunately, this was also 19% lower than the same weekend last year and this isn’t normal. Year-to-date, 2020 still has a lead over 2019, but it has shrunk to 6.2% or $82 million at $1.41 billion to $1.33 billion. Hopefully this recent weakness is only temporary.

Sonic the Hedgehog fell faster than expected down 55% to $26.19 million over the weekend for a two-week total of $106.49 million. This is a sharp decline for a family film. That said, it is still on pace to become a major a financial success for Paramount and could break even before reaching the home market. This depends on how much it makes internationally and how much it cost to advertise.

The Call of the Wild opened in a strong second place with $24.79 million during its opening weekend. This makes it one of the better debuting films for 20th Century Studios since they were bought out by Disney, but nowhere near enough to justify its $125 million production budget. Its reviews, its A minus from CinemaScore, and its older demographic should helps its legs. However, at this point, it is just trying to minimizes its losses.

Like Sonic the Hedgehog, Birds of Prey also fell faster than anticipated, down 60% to $6.80 million over the weekend for a total of $72.33 million after three weeks of release. It’s going to lose a lot of theaters this Friday, but it should still match its $82 million production budget domestically. If it can get past $200 million worldwide, then it has a slim chance to break even, eventually.

Bad Boys for Life held onto fourth place by the slimmest of margins with $5.84 million over the weekend for a total of $191.16 million after six weeks of release. It will get to $200 million domestically, but it will fall out of the top five before then.

Brahms: The Boy II was right behind with $5.82 million during its opening weekend. STX Entertainment was only on the hook for $3 million for this film, so at first glance this looks like an okay start. However, one has to assume they spent a lot more than that on advertising, so this isn’t a good start. Furthermore, its reviews and its C minus from CinemaScore won’t help its legs, so it will need a lot of help on the home market to break even.

Sonic the Hedgehog was the only member of the sophomore class in the top five; however, Fantasy Island came close earning sixth place with $4.27 million over the weekend for a two-week total of $20.26 million. The Photograph plummeted 77% to $2.79 million giving it tenth place over the weekend and $17.63 million after two weeks of release. I know it got a boost from Valentine’s Day last weekend, but this shows it got a much bigger boost that I thought it did. Finally, Downhill fell out of the top ten with just $1.44 million over the weekend and $7.41 million after two.

- Weekend Box Office Chart
- Friday Box Office Chart
- Thursday Box Office Chart

- Weekend Estimates: Sonic Outlasts the Sled Dog
- Thursday Night Previews: Wild has a Tame Debut
- Weekend Predictions: Will Audience Answer the Call?
- Theater Counts

Filed under: Weekend Wrap-up, Bad Boys For Life, The Call of the Wild, Sonic The Hedgehog, Fantasy Island, Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), Brahms: The Boy II, Downhill, The Photograph