'Sonic the Hedgehog' races past $210M in 10 days on global box office despite not releasing in China, Japan
After the absolute debacle that was the first trailer for 'Sonic the Hedgehog', most people weren't expecting the movie to do well. But breaking all expectations, Sega's speedster hedgehog has raced its way past the $200M-mark on the global box office.
The movie's release was delayed to give animators time to rework Sonic's design after the overwhelmingly negative response from fans to the initial look. Looking at the numbers now, that move certainly worked in favor of Paramount, the studio behind the video game adaptation.
According to Comicbook, Sega has announced a global box office take of $210M over just ten days, beating 'Pokemon: Detective Pikachu' and setting a new opening weekend record for movies based on video games. While 'Detective Pikachu' made $54.3M over three days in its opening weekend in the domestic market, 'Sonic' has raked in a whopping $58M domestically over the same period of time.
What's more impressive is that the movie hasn't released in Japan, the birthplace of the character. In fact, the movie also hasn't released in China either, one of the biggest markets for movies globally.
The Chinese release of 'Sonic the Hedgehog' has been delayed indefinitely as a result of the coronavirus outbreak that has shuttered theaters across the country. At the moment, it looks like the movie may not release in the country any time soon, which makes its success even more impressive.
Forbes estimates that the movie might still make around $335M globally before it leaves theaters. The film is currently the fourth highest-grossing video game movie of all time in the United States, having made $106.5M so far. Adjusting for inflation, the movie is still the sixth-highest on the list and it could climb much higher before it finishes its theatrical run.
'Sonic the Hedgehog' released in the United States on February 14.