Blumhouse Productions’ The Invisible Man, the newest adaptation of HG Wells classic tale, written and directed by Leigh Whannell (Insidious, Upgrade) came out big for opening weekend.
The thriller took the number one spot at the box-office from Sonic the Hedgehog, which has held that position for the past two weeks. This is 2020’s first big success in the horror film genre. The Invisible Man stars Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale) as Cecilia Kass and Oliver Jackson-Cohen (The Haunting At Hill House) as Adrian Griffin, the main protagonist and antagonist respectively. Cecilia Kass is being terrorized by her ex-husband, but no one believes her because Adrian committed suicide. With many twists and turns this reimagining of the well-known story brings The Invisible Man an impressive opening weekend which exceeded expectations by earning $29 million domestically and $49.2 million worldwide.
The success of The Invisible Man which gained praise from audiences and critics alike is proof positive of the new plan for the Universal Classic Monsters. After the lackluster reception to 2017’s The Mummy remake, which starred Tom Cruise (Mission Impossible: Fallout) lead to the collapse of the planned Dark Universe. Which would have been the Universal Classic Monsters shared universe similar to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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The new approach features standalone films made by talented filmmakers who have an interesting new take on these established characters. The Invisible Man was made on a much lower budget than the other films it beat at the box-office, with only a $7 million price tag. Whanell’s success has led to him signing a 2-year first look deal with Blumhouse Productions. The Invisible Man which has a 90% Rotten Tomato Score and a “B+” from CinemaScore will likely continue to bring in profits for Blumhouse in weeks to come.
Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog was unable to hold onto the top spot this weekend, but still made a respectable $16 million domestically to add to its total of $128.29 million in the U.S. and $265.5 million worldwide. Sonic had the highest opening weekend for a video game movie in the U.S., beating out Detective Pikachu from 2019.
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Meanwhile, Disney 20th Century Studios’ Call of the Wild was bumped down to number three, unable to get past Sonic once again, earning $13.2 million in the U.S. during its second weekend in theaters. The total domestically is now $45.86 million and worldwide $79.26 million.
Kenji Nagasaki’s (My Hero Academia) Manga movie, My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising, which opened in Japan back in December 2019 had its domestic release this weekend. The film played in over 1,000 theaters in the U.S. alone. My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising did surprisingly well placing at number four in the U.S. box office this weekend having earned $5 million.
Box-Office Breakdown
| Title | Weekend Take | Total Domestic |
| The Invisible Man | $29,000,000 | $29,000,000 |
| Sonic the Hedgehog | $16,000,000 | $128,293,652 |
| The Call of the Wild | $13,205,000 | $45,860,651 |
| My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising | $5,109,247 | $8,482,448 |
| Bad Boys for Life | $4,300,000 | $197,368,385 |
| Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn | $4,100,000 | $78,782,133 |
| Impractical Jokers: The Movie | $3,545,000 | $6,622,091 |
| 1917 | $2,670,000 | $155,867,069 |
| Brahms: The Boy II | $2,622,381 | $9,770,000 |
| Fantasy Island | $2,330,000 | $24,059,653 |
