Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Gets Release Date

Sonic the Hedgehog has turned into quite the winning franchise for Paramount Pictures. The first film in the live-action/CGI hybrid series was a solid success in 2020, and its sequel was met with another warm reception earlier this year. Now, Paramount is looking ahead to the third movie in the series. On Monday night, Paramount announced the official release date for Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and it’s arriving sooner than some fans might have expected.

According to the announcement, which was shared to the official Sonic social channels, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will arrive in theaters on December 20, 2024. You can take a look at the announcement below!

This release date announcement has implications beyond just the Sonic franchise. Paramount had initially planned for a Smurfs animated musical to hit theaters in December 2024. In addition to giving Sonic the Hedgehog 3 that spot, the studio has moved the Smurfs movie to February 2025.

The first Sonic the Hedgehog movie focused almost entirely on the titular Sonic character, voiced in the franchise by Ben Schwartz. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 introduced other iconic characters from the beloved Sega video game saga, including Tails and Knuckles.

Voiced by Idris Elba, Knuckles is going to lead a TV series on Paramount+, in addition to appearing in the feature films. Earlier this year, director Jeff Fowler talked about what fans can expect from the show.

“Oh, it’s very early with all of that [the Knuckles series]. One thing I knew after we finished the film, people are going to love this character. They’re going to love Idris playing this character and they’re going to want more of Knuckles absolutely,” Fowler told Discussing Film. “So right now, all the focus is just on getting people excited and getting them out to see the sequel. Then, we’ll go from there. He’s such a wonderful character that there are so many different ways that you can go [in the series] that fans could really get excited by, so that will hopefully all come along very soon. But for now, I’m just so excited to get people to see the sequel.”

Are you excited to see what Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has in store? Let us know in the comments!