Box Office Report: February 16, 2020

BY SCOTTIE KNOLLIN

After spending half of a year reworking the animation of the main character, Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog (#1) took an incredible first place finish in its first weekend at the box office. With $57 million, Sonic is now the record-holder of the largest opening weekend ever for a video game adaptation. Since it’s Presidents’ Day weekend in the U.S., the family-friendly film is expected to pull in about $68 million over the four days.If it pulls that off, it will become the fourth-largest Presidents’ Day opening ever.

The weekend saw three other wide releases across North America. Sony’s Fantasy Island (#3) and Universal’s The Photograph (#4) are battling it out for third place. Neither were able to top last weekend’s first-place finisher, WB’s Birds of Prey (#2).

Fantasy Island earned roughly $12.4 million over the three day weekend and a C- CinemaScore. The Photograph, starring Issa Rae, earned about $12.27 million and a B+ CinemaScore. Once final box office numbers are reported on Monday, the romantic drama could pull ahead of Fantasy Island. Its B+ CinemaScore is a good sign that the film could stick around for a while thank to word-of-mouth.

The other wide release was Searchlight’s Downhill (#10), an American reimagining of the awards-friendly film Force Majeure. Starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell, the comedy/drama earned just $4.6 million and a D CinemaScore.

After its historic Best Picture win at last weekend’s Academy Awards, Neon’s Parasite expanded into 2,000 theaters, despite already being available to rent for streaming. With $5.5 million, the film jumped over 200% since last weekend. If it sustains throughout the next few weeks, it could become one of the highest-grossing foreign-language releases ever in North America.

Leaving the Top Ten this weekend are action flick The Gentlemen (#11), horror adventure Gretel & Hansel (#14), hit mystery Knives Out (#12), and classic book adaptation Little Women (#13). Plus, Star Wars: Episode IX (#15) leaves the Top Ten for the first time since its release.

Next weekend, Twentieth Century releases The Call of the Wild, starring Harrison Ford, and STX opens Brahms: The Boy II, starring Katie Holmes. Focus will also be releasing Emma

WEEKEND TOP TEN (numbers are estimated; bold signifies a new release)

1. Sonic the Hedgehog - $57 million
2. Birds of Prey - $17.115 million
3. Fantasy Island - $12.4 million
4. The Photograph - $12.27 million
5. Bad Boys for Life - $11.3 million
6. 1917 - $8 million
7. Jumanji: The Next Level - $5.7 million
8. Parasite - $5.5 million
9. Dolittle - $5 million
10. Downhill - $4.67 million

Numbers are gathered from BoxOfficeMojo.