Sonic The Hedgehog 3 Just Passed A Major Box Office Milestone
It's official: Sonic is the king of live-action video game movies. In just a handful of years, "Sonic the Hedgehog" has gone from a beloved collection of Sega games and cartoon series to a global multi-media franchise, led by the big screen adaptations funded by Paramount Pictures. Those pictures have been a good investment, as the "Sonic" movies are now a $1 billion property thanks to "Sonic the Hedgehog 3." More importantly, with its theatrical run winding down, the third installment has passed a major milestone.
As of this writing, director Jeff Fowler's "Sonic 3" has made $462.5 million worldwide, with an almost dead even split between domestic and international audiences. With that, it has officially passed 2019's "Detective Pikachu" ($450 million worldwide) to become the highest-grossing live-action video game movie in history. While that figure doesn't account for inflation, it does demonstrate just how much the audience for these "Sonic" movies has grown. The first film made just over $300 million in 2020, and they've gotten bigger with each installment. So, where is the ceiling? That's the big question.
"Sonic 3" follows Sonic (Ben Schwartz), Knuckles (Idris Elba), and Tails (Colleen O'Shaughnessey) as they reunite to battle a powerful new enemy in the form of Shadow (Keanu Reeves), who has powers unlike anything they have faced before. Completely outmatched, Team Sonic is forced to seek an unlikely alliance in hopes of stopping Shadow and saving the world. All three of the "Sonic" films have been anchored by Schwartz ("Parks and Recreation") as the voice of Sonic, James Marsden ("X-Men") as Tom, and Jim Carrey ("Bruce Almighty") as Dr. Robotnik.
That live-action caveat is important here since 2023's animated "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" is far ahead of the pack, having made over $1.3 billion at the box office worldwide. Nintendo and Illumination certainly seemed to crack the code with that one, and we're undoubtedly going to be getting more animated video game movies in the future. But the "Sonic" films have also demonstrated that live-action can be very fruitful as well, when executed correctly. Therein lies the key, though it's easier said than done.
Sonic has changed the conversation around video game movies
"Sonic 3" is already on VOD, so it's not likely to do much more business before leaving theaters entirely. Luckily, it doesn't need to make another dime to be considered a hit thanks to its $122 million budget. Likewise, the first two "Sonic" films were produced for a surprisingly lean $90 million apiece. Paramount's thrifty nature has helped a lot with this franchise so far.
Dating back to the utter disaster that was 1993's "Super Mario Bros.," Hollywood has been trying to capitalize on the popularity of gaming. There were a few stray hits along the way such as "Resident Evil" but, by and large, the movies were bad and people didn't show up. That tide finally started to turn just before the 2020s, with "Sonic" being a massive part of the equation. Other films such as "Rampage" did their part as well. Slowly but surely, studios have begun to figure things out.
It certainly hasn't hurt that shows like "The Last of Us" and "Fallout" are downright Emmy worthy, proving that video games can fuel incredible adaptations. Still, it's this long-standing mascot of the Sega brand that has truly changed the narrative the most for video game movies in the future. Paramount is now developing an entire "Sonic" cinematic universe, with "Sonic the Hedgehog 4" already confirmed for 2027. Yet, the studio isn't getting greedy. Much like Godzilla and Kong over in the MonsterVerse, Paramount is playing the slow and steady game.
More than anything, this franchise has laid out something of a template for others to follow — namely, be faithful to the source material that made the property popular in the first place, keep the budgets reasonable, and don't get too ahead of yourself. It's an approach that should set up other video game brands to succeed in the realm of movies. It's not always going to work, but there's gold in them there hills, as an old prospector might say.
You can currently pre-order "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" on DVD or Blu-ray from Amazon.