Sonic Jumps to the Top of the US Box Office With a $26.5 Million Friday Opening

Sonic 2 has opened in first place across the US, crushing its box office competition, including Sony’s Morbius and the Michael Bay’s Ambulance, reportedly raking in $26.5 million, beating not only initial expectations but also last night’s numbers released by insider sources (posted below). This means that Sonic 2’s three-day opening forecast has also been increased again, to an impressive $67-$69 million! The higher end of this forecast is just shy of the originals $70 million four-day open, and well above its $58 million haul.

We still have no word on where Sonic 2’s box office stands internationally as of today. In addition to the US, it has also opened in over 20 other markets this week, including South Korea. Its overseas take from the markets it opened in last week still stand at $30 million as of Wednesday.

Will Sonic 2 continue to beat expectations and beat the $69 million estimate? We’ll know by Monday!

Original version of this story posted below.

Though the final numbers are not in, an estimate of Sonic 2’s Friday box office results have been leaked to Deadline by insider sources, and they appear to be above expectations. Sonic 2 is now set for what appears to be a $23-$26 million opening day haul (this includes the $6.25 million from preview screenings). This number not only puts it above the original’s $20 million opening day haul, but also sets it up for a significantly better opening weekend. Sonic 2 is now expected to make $60-$65 million this weekend, which not only blows past its initially predicted $50 million opening, but also puts it ahead of its predecessor’s haul, $58.

We will eventually update this post with the final numbers.