'Sonic the Hedgehog 3' Becomes the Franchise's Top-Grossing Film at the Domestic Box Office

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Idris Elba, Colleen O'Shaughnessey, and Ben Schwartz voicing Knuckles, Tails, and Sonic in 'Sonic the Hedgehog 3'

After debuting alongside Mufasa: The Lion King ahead of the lucrative Christmas week, Paramount's Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has now emerged as the franchise's top-grossing installment at the domestic box office. The movie has been playing in theaters for less than 20 days, and hasn't been launched on digital streaming platforms. Theatrical windows have narrowed tremendously in the post-pandemic era, and only recently, Universal was accused of jumping the gun by debuting Wicked at home even though it's still doing well in theaters (a gample that has admittedly paid off with Wicked's VOD release making $70 million in its first week). But Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has been making the most of its run; the movie hasn't fallen below the top three even once.

On its third Tuesday, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 grossed nearly $2 million, finishing second on the charts, and pushing its running domestic total to $191 million. This puts it $1 million ahead of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, which debuted in 2022, which also makes it the second-biggest video game adaptation of all time, behind The Super Mario Bros. Movie. The first Sonic the Hedgehog movie was released in 2020, just a few weeks before the pandemic brought the world to a stop; the movie concluded its domestic run with just over $145 million. All three movies have been directed by Jeff Fowler, and more impressively, all three of them have earned "fresh" scores on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.

In addition to now being the top-grossing installment of the series, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is also the best-reviewed. It holds an excellent 86% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and an even better 96% audience score. This would explain the excellent legs that the film has been displaying at the box office. By comparison, the first Sonic the Hedgehog film holds a 64% score on RT, while the sequel is currently sitting at a 69% rating. The unlikely franchise didn't get off to an auspicious start, with the core creative team being sent back to the drawing board after the titular character's appearance was criticized following the release of the first trailer. But whatever changes Fowler made were embraced by fans of the video game series upon which these films are based; they felt heard, and reciprocated by supporting the movie.

A Fourth 'Sonic the Hedgehog' Movie Is Being Planned

The success of the Sonic films is made all the more special by the relatively low budgets that Paramount has been producing them for. While the first and second films both cost under $100 million, the third installment cost a reported $120 million to produce. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has so far grossed around $330 million worldwide, and needs approximately $65 million more to become the top-grossing installment of the series at the global box office as well.

Featuring Ben Schwartz, James Marsden, and Jim Carrey, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is playing in theaters now. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

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Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is the sequel to the 2022 comedy-adventure movie that featured the Blue Blur and his companions on an adventure to stop Dr. Robotnik from taking over the world. The new film sees the new antagonist Shadow the Hedgehog, arriving to cause trouble for the newly formed trio of heroes, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, as they adjust to their earthly lives.

Director Jeff Fowler

Cast Ben Schwartz , Jim Carrey , Keanu Reeves , Idris Elba , Colleen O'Shaughnessey , Krysten Ritter , James Marsden , Tika Sumpter , Alyla Browne , Lee Majdoub , Natasha Rothwell , shemar moore , Adam Pally , Tom Butler , James Wolk , Jorma Taccone , Cristo Fernández , Sofia Pernas , Brett Tutor , Richard Sutton , Will Austin , Barry Calvert , Brendan Murphy , Toru Nakahara

Runtime 110 minutes

Release Date December 20, 2024

Writers Josh Miller , Patrick Casey , John Whittington

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