Sonic The Hedgehog is now the most successful video game movie in the US, having overtaken last year's Detective Pikachu. These might be uncertain times we're currently living in, but at least we can all take comfort in the fact that people seem to really like Sonic again. Maybe now SEGA can give us a new 3D game that isn't completely awful.
This weekend just gone was actually the worst for the US box office since 1998, for reasons I probably don't need to explain. Regardless, it saw the live-action Sonic flick surpass a cool $145.8 million, finally beating Detective Pikachu's impressive $144.1 million. Since this now makes Sonic The Hedgehog the highest-grossing video game movie in US history, I'd be very surprised if we don't get a sequel.
Jim Carrey, who starred as the villainous Dr. Robotnik, said earlier this year that he "wouldn't mind" going another round with the Blue Blur. Without giving anything away, there were also a few post-credit scenes that suggested further adventures with this new Sonic were on the horizon. Money talks though, so if you weren't sure a sequel would go ahead before, we can safely assume we'll be getting one in light of this news.
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Of course, while Sonic has dominated in the US, he hasn't quite topped the charts on a global scale. Sonic The Hedgehog has made $306.5 million worldwide to date, which is over $100 million less than the $433 million Detective Pikachu managed during its time in cinemas.
With that said, I should probably point out that Sonic was delayed in China thanks to coronavirus... so it's likely missed the potential for a lot of money in that market. Detective Pikachu, for instance, made a cool $93.7 from China alone.
While both Pikachu and Sonic made impressive returns and have paved the way for two new potential movie franchises, neither one is actually the most successful video game film in global terms. That honour goes to Warcraft, a movie I had genuinely forgotten about until I started writing this.
See, while Warcraft had a disastrous US run of $47.4 million, it made $391.7 million from international markets for a total of $439 million worldwide. It's still not exactly Avengers-level money, but I'm sure it made a lot of people happy... even if Warcraft didn't exactly get a ton of love from the critics.
Detective Pikachu and Sonic The Hedgehog, on the other hand? Well, they're not getting put forward for Oscars any time soon, but the consensus from most critics and fans was that both films were cute, goofy, and fun. Kind of exactly what you'd expect and want from a film based on a talking CG critter who strikes up an unlikely friendship with a human.
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I thought Detective Pikachu was ultimately more successful in its world-building and storytelling, but I found a lot to love in Sonic The Hedgehog, and I look forward to seeing where both franchises go in the future. And how studio greed will inevitably derail all the good will I've accumulated towards both.
Featured Image Credit: Paramount PicturesTopics: Sega, Pokemon, Nintendo, Sonic The Hedgehog