Sonic the Hedgehog 3 raced into theaters late December and has already earned more than $380 million worldwide. That’s impressive enough! But over the weekend, Sonic 3 did something only one other video game movie has ever done: It has now earned over $200 million domestically.
As spotted by GameSpot on January 13, over the second weekend of the month, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 reached $204 million in North America. Historically speaking, video game movies often fail to do well at the box office, and even bigger hits like the Resident Evil films routinely do better outside the United States and Canada. But Sonic 3 is beating the odds, and is now the second video game adaption to ever earn over $200 million domestically. The first to pull off that feat was The Super Mario Bros. Movie in 2023.
Even reaching $100 million domestically has traditionally been a struggle for video game films. Only 10 video game movies, including Sonic 3, have ever pulled that off. Those films are:
- The Super Mario Bros. Movie
- Sonic the Hedgehog 3
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Uncharted
- Pokémon: Detective Pikachu
- Five Nights at Freddy’s
- Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
- The Angry Birds Movie
- Rampage
Sonic 3‘s success is a big reason why Paramount has already greenlit a sequel, due out in 2027.
While Sonic 3 is doing great at the box office and will likely cross $400 million next weekend globally, it’s still nowhere near to catching up with the Super Mario Bros. movie. That animated film, despite being a fairly forgettable adventure starring Chris Pratt, made over $1.3 billion globally. In North America it made an astounding $575 million. So yeah, Mario is beating Sonic. Don’t worry, the blue blur and Sega are used to it. It’s not the first time and it likely won’t be the last.
But hey, at least the Sonic movies are interesting films with their own identities and featuring some wonderful performances by folks like Jim Carrey and Ben Schwartz. I’ll watch the Sonic movies again. I’d rather eat sand than watch the Super Mario Bros movie again. That’s something to be proud of!
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