Sonic the Hedgehog movie franchise achieves major box office milestone

The ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ movie franchise has crossed $1 billion at the global box office.

The latest entry into the series ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’ – which is inspired by the Sega video game franchise of the same name – has so far grossed $336.5 million worldwide since its theatrical release on 20 December 2024, bringing the series’ total earnings up to $1.06 billion since ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2’ and its 2020 predecessor raked in $405 million and $320 million respectively.

This major milestone has cemented ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ as one of the most profitable video game movie adaptations in Hollywood history, alongside the likes of ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’, ‘Pokemon’ and the ‘Resident Evil’ films.

Due to the success of ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3′, Paramount Pictures is working on a fourth film, with the studio aiming for a Spring 2027 release.

‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’ follows the titular hero (voiced by Ben Schwartz) as he, Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey) and his human accomplice Tom Wachowski (James Marsden) attempt to stop Shadow the Hedgehog (Keanu Reeves) from destroying the world.

‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’ – which also stars Krysten Ritter and Idris Elba – also sees the return of Jim Carrey’s baddie Dr. Ivo Robotnik.

Even after the 62-year-old actor previously vowed to retire from Hollywood, director Jeff Fowler always knew Carrey would return for ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’ due to the movie’s “fun concept”.

The filmmaker explained to Variety: “In my heart of hearts, I felt like if we offered Jim a fun concept and if we dangled just the right carrot, he’d come back. He loves entertaining young audiences.”

Carrey revealed when promoting ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2’ in 2022 that he was “fairly serious” about his plans to retire from acting, but admitted that he returned for the recent flick as he needed some cash after blowing through his savings.

‘The Mask’ star explained: “I came back to this universe because, first of all, I get to play a genius, which is a bit of a stretch.

“And, you know, it’s just … I bought a lot of stuff and I need the money, frankly.”