With Sonic the Hedgehog 2, our filmmakers and producing partners delivered the high-quality theatrical experience that the whole family had been waiting for, and we are thrilled with the enthusiastic global response to the characters and world we have created out of the beloved Sonic IP. — Marc Weinstock, President, Worldwide Marketing & Distribution, Paramount Pictures
This milestone demonstrates that audiences are hungry for great family entertainment, and that when we deliver on world-class, enduring franchises, crowds deliver in theatres. We can’t wait to expand the Sonic universe further and bring more exciting stories to fans with the next film installment and the upcoming Paramount+ series. — Daria Cercek, Co-President, Paramount Motion Picture Group
It’s celebratory time at Paramount as Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has officially passed the $400 million mark for global ticket sales. With only a $90 million production budget, and certainly no more than that in marketing, the movie is probably going to make Paramount somewhere in the neighborhood of $50 – $100 million in profits off of just its theatrical release. Physical DVD and BR sales plus digital purchases are icing on the cake.
This puts Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on a totally inverted path versus Disney and Pixar’s Lightyear fiasco. In the case of Sonic, the movie had a budget of $90 million for production. Disney and Pixar sunk more than double that into Lightyear. But at the box office, Sonic is winding up at $400 million whereas Lightyear is going to struggle to hit $200 million. That’s doubly true because if Lightyear collapses at the box office, Disney is unlikely to let it sit out there pulling in embarrassing numbers rather than “surprising” audiences with a “super special” early release onto Disney+. That gives them an excuse rather than just letting it fully die on the vine for everyone to see.
The only thing not fully inverted here are the profits and losses for the two films. You already know Sonic’s likely theatrical profit, but Lightyear’s is not just the opposite, it’s dramatically worse. If Lightyear fails to eclipse $200 million at the box office, and with the movie going to Disney+ for free, this is one bomb that could cost Disney $300 million in total. Ouch!
Maybe that’s why Daria Cercek had the line about “this milestone demonstrates that audiences are hungry for great family entertainment.” Everyone knows that Lightyear and Sonic are aimed at the exact same demographic. And everyone knows which strategy wins.
For all the latest news that should be fun, keep reading That Park Place! As always, drop a comment down below and let us know your thoughts. We really do read them.
Audiences and fans of franchises are not lying when they say “go woke, go broke.” We/they will deliver, when the studios actually give us things that we actually want, rather than agendized messaging.
Good for Paramount! Very happy to see them succeed, here. Hope they continue to produce this type of material.
If Sonic 2 cost as much as Lightyear, its total gross thus far would be disappointing (not as crashing or flopping as Lightyear, but still a crash and a flop).
Minions, along with Frozen, might be the only animated $1B+ films remaining. This & Sing 2 are ~+$400M for worldwide total gross, which might be the ceiling for animated-type features now. If Lightyear cost ~$90M max, its opening weekend would not be an issue.
Most of the studios don’t spend over $100M on their animated features (Sonic 2 cost $90 M), except Disney. They will definitely rethink ~$200M budgets from now on. What will be interesting is how that will be done.
Every single Disney production costs $200 million. They all would have made money if not for the production budget. 2021 was especially not lucrative. BW, Shang Chi, Eternals, all lost money. Will Disney learn that it’s the combination of not Woke and not over produced? Not likely. Disney theme parks continue to prop up the money losing studios.
Excellent point, that it’s beyond animated features.
Chapek/executive level managers are definitely going to be more judicious about movie production budgets from now on with all the verticals. More performance-type results of present productions that will determine the budgets for the future productions will probably be required if they want the good old days type amounts.