Jim Carrey's Sonic speeds to No. 1 at the box office

The world's fastest hedgehog has sped into first place at the box office.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 took the top spot in cinemas on its opening day Friday, and is slated to earn $70.5 million (£56 million) this weekend, according to Deadline.

The action adventure, which The New York Post called "much easier to swallow than the first sequel", is based on the Sega video game series.

Its star-studded cast includes Jim Carrey, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and James Marsden.

Carrey has joked that he returned for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 for two main reasons: He gets to play a genius and he "needs the money".

The Bruce Almighty star plays two roles in the new Sonic movie: Dr Ivo 'Eggman' Robotnik and his grandfather, Professor Gerald Robotnik, a task that he has described as "very difficult".

Landing in second place was Mufasa: The Lion King, featuring returning stars Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, Donald Glover and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter.

The film, produced by Walt Disney Pictures, is a prequel and sequel to 2019's The Lion King, which in turn was a remake of the original 1994 animated Disney movie.

Wicked slipped to third place on its fifth week in cinemas.

Now in its fourth week, Moana 2 took fourth place with the post-apocalyptic drama Homestead coming up behind in fifth.