The box office race has begun for the Presidents’ Day holiday weekend and Sonic The Hedgehog is speeding to impressive results.
Sonic spun his way to $3 million in Thursday night previews that began at 5:00 PM at 3,150 locations. Keep in mind that the target audience won’t really come out for this until today through the holiday on Monday and that makes the $3 million start even more noteworthy because it’s a strong preview number for a film aimed at kids. The number is the same as what DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World made last February — a $3 million Thursday off 6:00 PM showtimes — before launching to a stellar $55 million opening weekend. Other titles Sonic is being compared to off its previews include Lego Batman ($2.2 million, 5:00 PM previews, $53 million opening), Lego Movie 2 ($1.5 million 4:00 PM previews, $34.1 million opening), and MGM/UAR’s animated The Addams Family ($1.25 million 4:00 PM previews, $30.3 million opening). Sonic is tracking at a $45 million opening but some box office experts have lifted the figure to $50-55 million after the release of the preview numbers.
The Photograph, starring Issa Rae & LaKeith Stanfield, got off to a decent start with $650,000 in Thursday night previews at 2,250 theaters from shows that began at 7:00 PM. The Photograph is likely to really take off today, Valentine’s Day, as it’s the only real romantic film out for consumption. The African American & Hispanic audience, particularly women, have shown strong interest in the film. The film is 79% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and if word of mouth hits, this could be one to watch this weekend.
Sony/Blumhouse release, Fantasy Island, did not hold Thursday night previews (learned that the hard way when I thought I got tickets for Thursday and they were actually for Friday, whoops) but there is a sign that the $7 million film has bad news written all over it. The studio held last-minute previews for critics quite late: yesterday at 2:00 PM and that has already led to a rotten score of 20%. Do we have another “F” CinemaScore in store for horror in 2020? Stay tuned!
