Paramount’s Latest Sonic Adventure Surpasses Predecessor at Global Box Office, Becomes Highest Grossing Game Movie in US

Sonic 2 has officially surpassed its predecessor at the global box office, logging an estimated $323 Million by the end of Sunday. Of that amount, $160 million is from the US box office, meaning that Sonic 2 has also beaten Sonic 1’s record-setting $149 million and become the highest grossing video game movie ever in the US.

In the context of the overall 2021 box office, Sonic 2 now sits at number 5 globally, after falling behind Fantastic Beasts 3, which now sits at $329 million. This largely comes down to a lack of release for Sonic 2 in China, where FB3 has made $17.5 million, as well an overall stronger performance internationally. In the US box office, Sonic 2 now sits in second place, after surpassing Uncharted, leaving it second only to The Batman, which sits at $369 million.

So what’s next for Sonic 2 at the box office? That’s going to depend on a few factors, including: how well it can weather the release of Dr. Strange 2, how well its Japanese release does this summer, and whether or not it can secure a release in China. Dr. Strange 2 ought to be huge, as the year’s first MCU movie and the first summer blockbuster, so its quite likely it will at least lead to a reduction in the number of screens showing Sonic 2.

Sonic has never been all that big in Japan, the first movie only made $1.5 million there (albeit in the immediate aftermath of the global COVID-19 lockdowns), and Sonic 2 is getting a very late release there. Finally, China has been far less open to western movies compared to two years ago.

On the whole, $350 million is looking like a plausible final tally for Sonic 2, a really good number but one that falls well short of the current global video game box office record holder, Warcraft and its $439 million. Though without China, which made up more then half that number, that was always going to be a difficult number for Sonic 2 to beat. 

via Box Office Mojo