‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’ Finally Gets a Release Date, Marking an Exciting Move for the Series
Movies based on video games have a spotty history at best. Yet, 2020’s Sonic the Hedgehog became a surprise smash hit that launched a franchise. The movie, which stars Jim Carrey, James Marsden, and Ben Schwartz as the voice of Sonic, even inspired a sequel.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 earned even more box office cash. But here’s why the latest news regarding Sonic the Hedgehog 3 should have fans even more excited.
Where the story of the ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ movies leaves off
The first movie established Sonic had been secretly living in the small town of Green Hill. A moment of weakness exposes him to the villainous Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey). After befriending the local sheriff Tom Wachowski (Marsden), Sonic embarks on a quest to keep his speed power — and his bag of magic, teleporting rings — out of the wrong (e.g. Robotnik’s) hands.
Robotnik gets stranded on a distant planet but soon returns with the aid of a mysterious creature named Knuckles (Idris Elba). With the help of Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey), Sonic faces off against Knuckles over the powerful Master Emerald, which Robotnik inevitably steals.
In the end, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles all team up to defeat him, though a mysterious new threat, Shadow the Hedgehog, awaits the new friends.
‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’ proves just how big the series has gotten
The two Sonic the Hedgehog collectively earned more than $700 million at the worldwide box office, according to Box Office Mojo. The sequel’s $190 million domestic take even made it the highest-grossing video game movie of all time in the U.S.
So naturally, Paramount isn’t waiting around for the third chapter, even giving it a premium slot on its 2024 schedule. Paramount announced, as The Hollywood Reporter reports, that Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will open in theaters on December 20, 2024.
This not only positions the video game sequel as the studio’s big holiday season release. It all puts the little blue hedgehog and his friends up against the big blue Na’vi of another huge third chapter, James Cameron’s Avatar 3.
What’s next for the ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ movie franchise?
In all likelihood, either Avatar 3 or Sonic the Hedgehog 3 — most likely the latter — will move to another date on the 2024 release schedule. However, the fact that Paramount even put their movie in that Christmas weekend slot is a huge show of confidence for the franchise.
After all, the studio doesn’t have many other active franchises, save for perhaps Mission: Impossible. Thankfully, fans won’t have to wait until 2024 to get their next fix of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.
Soon after the second film’s release, Paramount announced not only the third film but also a spinoff series focused on Knuckles for Paramount+. Though details have not yet been revealed, that series – with Elba reprising his role – is set to be streaming sometime in 2023.
