Sonic the Hedgehog' Lifts Paramount With Record-Setting Opening
February 17 2020 - 05:38PM
Dow Jones News
By R.T. Watson
Paramount Pictures finally has something to cheer about.
On the back of its newest release, "Sonic the Hedgehog,"
ViacomCBS Inc.'s studio ruled Presidents Day weekend with an
estimated $70 million in the U.S. and Canada.
Starring Jim Carrey and James Marsden alongside the animated
blue speedster, "Sonic" tells the tale of an extraterrestrial
hedgehog who joins forces with a small-town sheriff as he tries to
avoid the schemings of an evil genius.
Based on the main character from the 1990s Sega videogame
series, "Sonic" represents the latest attempt by Hollywood to craft
a feature film narrative from source material that is in theory
recognizable to both parents and children. The gamble appears to
have paid off. Through Sunday the family-friendly "Sonic" had
already sped into the record books by posting the highest-grossing
opening weekend ever for a videogame adaptation.
AT&T Inc.'s Warner Bros. previously held the record with its
2019 release of "Pokémon Detective Pikachu," which grossed $54.4
million during its first three days in theaters, according to
media-measurement company Comscore. By Sunday, "Sonic" surpassed
that mark by earning an estimated $57 million in domestic ticket
sales.
Paramount's faith in "Sonic" hasn't always appeared
justified.
The studio originally planned to release the movie more than
three months ago, but delayed the film's debut after an early
trailer caught fire on social media for all the wrong reasons. Some
Sonic fans were shocked by the character's big-screen
transformation, especially its teeth and eyes, which looked
disturbingly like a human's.
After "Sonic" director Jeff Fowler took to Twitter to vow that
he and his team would fix the blue hedgehog's appearance, Paramount
moved the film's release date to February from November.
Early signs suggest the time was well spent. Boasting an
audience score of 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and an "A" rating from
CinemaScore, "Sonic" has made more than $100 million
world-wide.
The strong "Sonic" opening follows a string of commercial duds
for Paramount stretching back into last year. According to
Comscore, the studio's 2019 domestic box office total was 26% below
its tally for the previous year, largely as a result of big-budget
flops like "Gemini Man" and "Terminator: Dark Fate."
The studio has steadily ranked at or near the bottom of the heap
among major rivals for close to a decade.
Jim Gianopulos, a veteran film executive who took charge of
Paramount in 2017, has been tasked with reviving the studio's
fortunes. Mr. Gianopulos's tenure has featured few commercial
highlights, as he has until now had to manage the release of films
produced or developed before his arrival.
The studio hopes 2020 will mark the beginning of a new era, with
several highly anticipated titles in the pipeline, including "A
Quiet Place Part II," "Top Gun: Maverick" and "Coming 2
America."
"His paw prints are all over this year," said Chris Aronson,
Paramount's president of domestic distribution. "This is the first
time Gianopulos can truly say that this is his slate of films."
Further down the long-weekend box-office rankings, comic-book
adaptation "Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One
Harley Quinn" came in a distant second. Released by Warner Bros.,
the R-rated comic spinoff, starring Margot Robbie and Ewan
McGregor, couldn't be saved by decent critical reviews.
After performing poorly for a second consecutive weekend, the
film has made a disappointing $62 million in the U.S. and Canada
plus $83.6 million overseas, according to Comscore.
Independent label Neon had success increasing the number of
screens showing its Oscar-winning film "Parasite." After becoming
the first foreign-language movie ever to be awarded the Academy
Award for best picture, the suspenseful South Korean drama grossed
an additional $6.8 million during the long weekend, bringing its
total in North America to $44.5 million.
Write to R.T. Watson at rt.watson@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 17, 2020 17:23 ET (22:23 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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