Sonic the Hedgehog is dead. Long live Sonic the Hedgehog 2. I received a press release last night from the Japan side of Sega, confirming that Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2 box office returns have reached $331 million globally. This means the sequel has not only maintained the first movie’s surprise positive momentum, Sega and Paramount beat their own record of the highest-grossing videogame movie ever released.
Related: Sonic Origins to Arrive in June 2022
I’m about to regurgitate more information from the press release, but Sega Corp. included some pretty interesting data. Sonic 2 opened in 4,234 theaters in the United States on its official April 8 release date, but its international rollout started on March 31. In the US alone, Sonic 2’s first weekend drew approximately $72 million, which is a massive uptick from the first movie’s $58 million opening weekend. Considering the overall difference globally is $331 million over $319, that US opening is notable.
Sega points out Sonic 2 was the number one movie in several other countries when it debuted, which isn’t really a surprise for when the movie released. However, without giving specifics Sega also shouted out Mexico and Brazil as strong markets. That’s a neat tidbit due to the historically powerful Sega fandom in those regions.
Funny enough, Sonic 2 won’t be playing in Japanese theaters until August 19, making Sonic’s own point of origin not yet a factor in those box office figures.
Sonic is pretty busy this year, following the movie with Sonic Origins, Sonic Frontier and Sonic Prime all set to arrive before 2023. And then, both a third movie and a show on Paramount+ are planned for 2023.
