'Sonic 2': Families Drive Massive $71M Box Office

In a sign that a broader range of moviegoers has returned to theaters, Paramount Pictures’s "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" pulled in a massive $71 million over the most recent weekend in North American box-office revenue.

"This follow up to 2020’s 'Sonic The Hedgehog' takes over the crown from its predecessor as the biggest opening ever for a video-game adaptation and now shows that the family audience is back to the multiplex in a supersonic way,” says Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst of Comscore.

An estimated $15.62 million was spent on national TV advertising for the movie, producing 1.8 billion impressions from 2,950 airings, according to EDO Ad EnGage.

A higher projection of $18.0 million came from iSpot.tv. Over the most recent two week period, most of its TV impressions came from Nickelodeon, followed by TBS, Univision, Cartoon Network, and Comedy Central.

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In a distant second place, now in its second week, "Sony Pictures' "Morbius" added another $10.2 million to now total $57.1 million for North American box-office revenue.

Paramount's "The Lost City" was next at $9.2 million, now totaling $68.9 million.

Universal Pictures' "Ambulance" was the only other wide release to launch this weekend, taking in $8.7 million. The R-rated suspense film, directed by Michael Bay, stars Jake Gyllenhaal.

Through just over three months of 2022 (January 1 though April 9), total U.S. national TV advertising spending for theatrical movies is estimated to be $407.9 million, according to iSpot. This comes in just below (6%) the pre-pandemic period in 2019 over the same period -- $431.9 million.

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