Sonic The Hedgehog booms to top of US box office with $79m
LOS ANGELES : Family film Sonic The Hedgehog ignited over Presidents' Day weekend with US$57 million (S$79m) in North America and US$100 million globally, the best showing ever for a video game adaptation.
It was expected to earn US$68 million through yesterday, one of the best hauls for the holiday weekend. The better-than-expected start is even more notable since movies based on video games tend to be rejected by moviegoers.
That could have been a reality for Sonic had director Jeff Fowler not gone back to the drawing board after immense Internet backlash over the first trailer. The movie, which cost US$87 million to make, was postponed three months to give the film-makers enough time to redesign the title character.
Meanwhile, Bong Joon-ho's Oscar-winning Parasite grossed US$5.5 million over the weekend - a 234 per cent increase in ticket sales and the biggest post-Oscar boost for a best picture winner in the past decade, reported Variety.
To date, the South Korean thriller has made US$44 million in the US and US$161 million internationally. - REUTERS
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