Box Office: 'Sonic the Hedgehog' Digging Up Huge $60M-Plus Opening

Elsewhere, 'The Photograph' and 'Fantasy Island' are battling it out for third place behind 'Birds of Prey,' while 'Downhill' tumbles and Oscar-winner 'Parasite' shines.

Paramount's Sonic the Hedgehog grossed a huge $21 million on Friday for a projected four-day debut of $60 million-plus over Presidents Day weekend, including $50 million or more for the three days.

If traffic holds, the family-friendly pic has a strong shot of coming in several million dollars higher and unseating 2019's Detective Pikachu ($54.3 million) to boast the biggest domestic opening ever for a video game adaptation, according to Comscore and unadjusted for inflation.

The PG-rated title — which received an A CinemaScore — is based on the popular Sega video game and sees the titular character (voiced by Ben Schwartz) team up with a small-town sheriff (James Marsden) to battle the evil genius Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey).

Sonic's better-than-expected bow is a win for Paramount and director Jeff Fowler, who redesigned the titular character after a loud fan outcry last year.

The movie will easily steal the box office crown from holdover Birds of Prey, which launched to a tepid $33 million last weekend. The female-led superhero pic looks likely to come in at No. 2 over the Presidents Day frame with an okay $20 million.

Sonic is hardly the only new offering on the marquee, thanks to the one-two punch of Valentine's Day, which fell on a Friday this year, and Presidents Day.

Universal and producer Will Packer's romantic drama The Photograph is in a relatively close race with Sony and Blumhouse's horror pic Fantasy Island for the No. 3 spot behind Sonic and Birds of Prey. Both new films are eyeing a four-day gross in the $14 million-$15 million range, with many rivals giving Fantasy Island a slight edge.

The Photograph, which stars Issa Rae and Lakeith Stanfield, was written and directed by Stella Meghie. The $15 million film received a B+ CinemaScore.

Fantasy Island, a horror reimagining of the classic television series of the same name, barely passed muster with a C- CinemaScore. Directed and written by Jeff Wadlow, the $7 million pic stars Michael Peña, Maggie Q, Lucy Hale, Austin Stowell, Portia Doubleday, Jimmy O. Yang, Ryan Hansen and Michael Rooker.

Searchlight's Downhill, starring Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, flunked out with a D CinemaScore. Premiering last month at the Sundance Film Festival to mixed reviews, the black comedy is looking at a four-day bow of $5.5 million to $6 million.

Downhill could be topped by Bong Joon Ho's Parasite, which expanded into more than 2,000 theaters on Friday following its historic Academy Award wins for best picture and director, among other top accolades. The South Korean film, distributed by Neon, is projected to gross $5.5 million to $6.5 million as it nears the $44 million mark domestically.