{"id":245672,"date":"2020-02-20T21:54:30","date_gmt":"2020-02-21T02:54:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=245672"},"modified":"2020-02-20T21:54:30","modified_gmt":"2020-02-21T02:54:30","slug":"sonic-speeds-to-57m-debut-parasite-sees-big-oscar-bump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/02\/20\/sonic-speeds-to-57m-debut-parasite-sees-big-oscar-bump\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Sonic’ speeds to $57M debut; ‘Parasite’ sees big Oscar bump"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Paramount Pictures’ \u201cSonic the Hedgehog\u201d came in well above expectations, especially for a movie that just months ago was a laughing stock. (File photo Screenshot<\/a> from \u201cSonic the Hedgehog\u201d trailer via ColumbiaPicturesPhils\/Youtube<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NEW YORK \u2014 The redesigned \u201cSonic the Hedgehog\u201d showed plenty of teeth at the box office, speeding to a $57 million debut, according to studio estimates Sunday, while \u201cParasite\u201d saw one of the largest post-Oscars bumps in years following its best picture win.<\/p>\n

Paramount Pictures’ \u201cSonic the Hedgehog\u201d came in well above expectations, especially for a movie that just months ago was a laughing stock. After its first trailer was greeted with ridicule on social media last year, \u201cSonic\u201d was postponed three months to give its title character a design overhaul \u2014 including fixing Sonic’s eerily human teeth.<\/p>\n

The makeover worked and audiences responded by making \u201cSonic the Hedgehog\u201d the weekend’s top film and the highest-grossing opening for a video game adaptation, not accounting for inflation. For Paramount, it’s a welcome success following misfires such as \u201cGemini Man\u201d and \u201cTerminator: Dark Fate.\u201d The studio estimates \u201cSonic\u201d will gross $68 million over the four-day Presidents Day holiday weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don’t listen to your customer, and this goes for any business, then you’re going to fail,\u201d said Chris Aronson, distribution chief for Paramount. \u201cWe retooled Sonic in a way that was obviously very satisfying for the fans and they were very forgiving. Now that they’ve seen the movie, they love the movie. It all worked out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sega video game adaptation, directed by Jeff Fowler, drew decent reviews (63% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and an A CinemaScore from moviegoers. The $87 million production co-stars Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik with Ben Schwartz supplying Sonic’s voice.<\/p>\n

Bong Joon Ho’s \u201cParasite\u201d had its biggest weekend in its 19th week of release. Neon put \u201cParasite\u201d into its widest release yet (2,001 theatres) following its historic win at the Oscars. (\u201cParasite\u201d was the first non-English-language film to win best picture in the 92-year history of the Academy Awards.) And despite the film already being available for weeks on digital platforms and on DVD, its $5.5 million weekend is the largest Oscars bump for a best-picture winner since \u201cGladiator\u201d in 2001.<\/p>\n

Last week’s opening of \u201cBirds of Prey\u201d followed up its limp debut by sliding to second with $17.1 million. Following its disappointing opening, some theatres retitled the movie \u201cHarley Quinn: Birds of Prey,\u201d instead of \u201cBirds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn).\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a busy weekend in theatres, with a handful of other new releases \u2014 \u201cThe Photograph,\u201d \u201cFantasy Island,\u201d \u201cDownhill\u201d \u2014 seeking to capitalize on both Valentine’s Day on Friday and Presidents Day on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cFantasy Island,\u201d the Blumhouse horror remake of the `70s TV show, fared the best, collecting $12.4 million in ticket sales despite terrible reviews. Sony Pictures handled the release of the low-budget, PG-13 film, which earned just a 9% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes.<\/p>\n

Universal Pictures \u201cThe Photograph,\u201d a romance starring Issa Rae and Lakeith Stanfield and produced by Will Packer (\u201cGirls Trip,\u201d \u201cRide Along\u201d), opened with $12.2 million. The film, written and directed by Stella Meghie, cost $15 million to make.<\/p>\n

\u201cDownhill,\u201d from Disney’s Fox Searchlight Pictures, debuted with $4.7 million, a modest start for a film starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell. A remake of the acclaimed Swedish film \u201cForce Majeure\u201d by Ruben ?stlund, \u201cDownhill\u201d didn’t do great with critics but fared even worse with audiences. They gave it a D CinemaScore.<\/p>\n

Neon followed up its \u201cParasite\u201d Oscar win with the Valentine’s Day release of \u201cPortrait of a Lady on Fire,\u201d one of 2019’s most acclaimed films. Following a one-week qualifying run in December, Celine Sciamma’s French period romance opened in 22 theatres with a strong per-theatre average of about $20,000.<\/p>\n

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to Comscore. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u201cSonic the Hedgehog,\u201d $57 million ($44.3 million international).<\/li>\n
  2. \u201cHarley Quinn: Birds of Prey,\u201d $17.1 million ($23 million international).<\/li>\n
  3. \u201cFantasy Island,\u201d $12.4 million ($7.6 million international).<\/li>\n
  4. \u201cThe Photograph,\u201d $12.3 million.<\/li>\n
  5. \u201cBad Boys for Life,\u201d $11.3 million ($11.1 million international).<\/li>\n
  6. \u201c1917,\u201d $8.1 million ($6.4 million international).<\/li>\n
  7. \u201cJumanji: The Next Level,\u201d $5.7 million ($1.9 million international).<\/li>\n
  8. \u201cParasite,\u201d $5.5 million.<\/li>\n
  9. \u201cDolittle,\u201d $5.1 million ($8.8 million international).<\/li>\n
  10. \u201cDownhill,\u201d $4.7 million.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    NEW YORK \u2014 The redesigned \u201cSonic the Hedgehog\u201d showed plenty of teeth at the box office, speeding to a $57 …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":237334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,106],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-245672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","category-hollywood","mauthors-jake-coyle","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245672"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":245673,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245672\/revisions\/245673"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}