Sonic the Hedgehog Movie Earns $3 Million at Thursday Box Office

The new Sonic the Hedgehog movie made its first theater appearance this week when it opened throughout various locations on Thursday starting at 5 p.m. From those opening shows, the movie made around $3 million in total, a promising start for a film which concerned many longtime Sonic fans with its initial portrayal of the beloved character. Considering how the movie's official wide release is on Valentine's Day just days before what'll be a long weekend for many, that number is poised to rise much higher throughout the next few days.

Deadline reported on Sonic the Hedgehog's performance during its Thursday night debut at the theaters. Those who've been keeping up with box office predictions for February's movies may recall that the film is supposed to bring in anywhere between $45 million and $55 million by the time the weekend is over, according to updated numbers from Box Office Pro. Expectations are positive for the effect Presidents' Day will have on the release with Sonic the Hedgehog possibly able to compete with strong Presidents' Day movies from past years.

Sonic the Hedgehog has attracted numerous comparisons to Detective Pikachu seeing how it blends live-action scenes with a CGI version of the iconic character. To compare those two movies even further, Detective Pikachu earned around $5.7 million during its Thursday box office debut. The movie went on to earn $58 million during the opening weekend.

Unlike Detective Pikachu though, the Sonic the Hedgehog movie caught some negative attention initially because of how Sonic was portrayed. People did not react well to the version of Sonic Paramount initially presented to them which led to the movie's delay so that the character could be redesigned. The movie's director, Jeff Fowler, was worried people still wouldn't like the new look, but it seems Sonic fans are more than content with it now.

Reviews for the movie have started coming in now that it's hit theaters with the reactions showing the effect the new design had on the film's reception. It was sitting at a 70% on Rotten Tomatoes on Thursday, and while that critic score has dropped a bit to 65%, it's still doing well. The audience score is overwhelmingly in support of the movie with a 94% rating.

If you're interested in seeing Sonic the Hedgehog over the weekend, you can check out our review first to know what to expect from it.