Los Angeles, April 10 Sci-fi action-adventure comedy 'Sonic the Hedgehog 2' is poised to top the US box office charts with an impressive opening of $67 million to $69 million.
However, the Jake Gyllenhaal-starrer R-rated actioner, 'Ambulance' will most likely fail to clear double digits, reports 'Variety'.
As per 'Variety', 'Sonic' went off the mark on the box office to the tune of $6.3 million in previews and has been on an upward curve since, playing in 4,234 locations. The sequel is outperforming its 2020 predecessor, which opened to $58 million at a time when COVID-19 was still a nebulous threat to most North Americans.
'Sonic the Hedgehog 2' stars funnyman Ben Schwartz as the voice of the titular video game character, with Idris Elba joining the series as the voice of the villain Knuckles the Echidna. Colleen O'Shaughnessey, who has regularly voiced Tails the Fox in the video game series, reprises the role of Sonic's sidekick for the film.
Talking about the film's live-action cast, Jim Carrey stars as Dr. Robotnik with James Marsden as Sheriff Tom Wachowski, as well as Tika Sumpter, Natasha Rothwell, Adam Pally, Shemar Moore, Lee Majdoub and Tom Butler.
'Ambulance' had plenty of factors in its favor heading into its opening. The film boasts a diverse lead cast of popular stars - Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Eiza González - as well as some of the strongest reviews of Michael Bay's career. Audiences have largely been approving, bestowing an "A-" CinemaScore rating, and the film has locked down IMAX format auditoriums for the week, opening up the opportunity for premium ticket pricing. Even so, an opening beneath $10 million indicates that adult audiences are going to be more discerning about what releases to roll out to theaters for after the age of pandemic lockdowns.
Similarly, Columbia Pictures' 'Morbius' is set to earn $10 million in its sophomore outing. That marks a 75% drop-off from its previous outing thereby collapsing the possibility for a potential franchise starter. The film has been singularly panned by critics before release.
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