‘Sonic’ outpaces its rivals to again top N. America box office

Los Angeles: Paramount´s adventure comedy "Sonic the Hedgehog" clung to a narrow lead in the North American box office this weekend, taking in an estimated $26.3 million, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday.

"Sonic," starring Jim Carrey as the villainous Dr. Robotnik, recounts the adventures of a turbocharged blue hedgehog with supersonic speed. Films based on video games rarely excel at the box office, but this one set a record for the genre with its $58 million opening last weekend.

20th Century´s new adventure film "The Call of the Wild," starring Harrison Ford, placed second, taking in $24.8 million for the Friday-to-Sunday period. The story of a man and a surprisingly realistic, computer-generated sled dog is loosely based on the 1903 Jack London classic, set in the wilds of Alaska and Canada´s Klondike region.

In third place, down one spot from last week, was Warner Bros. superhero film "Birds of Prey," at $7 million. Margot Robbie stars as former Joker girlfriend Harley Quinn.

Fourth spot went to new supernatural horror film "Brahms: The Boy II," from STX Entertainment, at $5.9 million. Katie Holmes stars in the frightfest -- a sequel to 2016´s "The Boy" -- about a porcelain doll with an innocent face but sinister powers.

And in fifth was Sony´s action comedy "Bad Boys for Life," with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence as wise-cracking Miami narcotics detectives. It took in $5.8 million, pushing its global total so far to $391 million.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

"1917" ($4.4 million)

"Fantasy Island" ($4.2 million)

"Parasite" ($3.1 million)

"Jumanji: The Next Level" ($3 million)

"The Photograph" ($2.8 million)