The Sonic the Hedgehog movie is expected to have a strong start at the box office. Variety reports that the CG/live-action film is projected to make between $40 million and $45 million for its opening weekend, which includes the President's Day holiday in the US on February 17.

Sonic should have no trouble unseating Birds of Prey, which was last weekend's No. 1 movie with $33.2 million for its first weekend. Sonic goes up against a raft of newcomers this weekend, including the thriller Fantasy Island, the Will Ferrell/Julia Louis-Dreyfus movie Downhill, and the romance The Photograph, all of which are expected to open below Sonic.

The Sonic movie is directed by Oscar-nominated director Jeff Fowler (Gopher Broke). It was originally expected to hit theatres in 2019, but Sony moved the movie to 2020 in response to the social media backlash against the original design of Sonic.