Paramount Pictures Greenlights Sonic The Hedgehog 4 Slated For A Spring 2027 Release

Team Sonic has been assembled and ready to tackle Dr. Robotnik and Shadow the Hedgehog in their next adventure as Sonic the Hedgehog 3 dashes to cinemas worldwide. The third entry in the Sonic film series from Paramount and SEGA arrives in cinemas on 20th December 2024, which has garnered mostly positive reviews from critics before the global audience can experience the next adventure for the Blue Blur and crew in person.

Just hours before Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles dash into cinemas ahead of its opening weekend, its production and distribution company, Paramount Pictures, shared exciting news about the franchise's direction and what's next. They announced that Team Sonic will get to go fast again, as the fourth film has been greenlit and will likely enter production at some point.

A day before Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and their allies go head-to-head against Dr. Robotnik and Shadow the Hedgehog, the latter makes his onscreen debut in Sonic 3, Paramount Pictures confirmed there will be a Sonic the Hedgehog 4 film. This was revealed in a report from the entertainment news site Variety on 19th December 2024, but it will be a while before audiences catch up with Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles again as Sonic 4 received a 2027 release window, but details on its plot, casting, release date, and more are unconfirmed as of writing.

Sonic 3 is projected to be a massive family-friendly hit at the box office in its opening weekend ahead of Christmas Day as Variety reported that it's expected to earn between "$55 million to $60 million" at North American cinemas, but its global revenue projections are unknown. Given the successes of the previous two Sonic films and the spin-off series Knuckles, which premiered this year on the streaming service Paramount+, audiences have wanted more adventures and hijinks with Team Sonic, which Paramount is looking to capitalize on.

The film series is based on the video game series, whose first gaming title was released in 1991 by Japanese developer and publisher SEGA; Sonic the Hedgehog saw multiple mainline entries, including Sonic Mania and Sonic X Shadow Generations. The Sonic series also saw multiple spin-off games released over the years, including the recently announced Sonic Racing CrossWorlds revealed at The Game Awards 2024.