Sonic The Hedgehog 3 Is Breaking A Video Game Movie Record Only 1 Other Franchise Has Accomplished

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 puts the movie franchise in an elite group, one that it only truly shares with a single property. Video games have been adapted into movies for decades, but the amount of success each has achieved has varied greatly. In addition, many video game adaptations tend to end after just one movie, so Sonic has already shown a greater degree of longevity than many of its competitors.

After the release of the first movie in 2020, the Sonic the Hedgehog cast reunited for a 2022 sequel. Both Sonic movies were a success at the box office, leading to a third installment being produced. Sonic the Hedgehog 3‘s release date is set for December 2024, which will mean the movie franchise becoming a trilogy. While trilogies may seem fairly commonplace in the modern cinematic age, it’s a much rarer occurrence when the source material is a video game.

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Sonic The Hedgehog 3 Is Only The Second Video Game Movie Franchise To Get 3 Movies

Resident Evil has twice as many movies as Sonic

The Sonic the Hedgehog movie franchise becoming a trilogy means it joins just one other video game adaptation that has reached the same milestone. Resident Evil became the first video game movie franchise to hit the trilogy mark with 2007’s Resident Evil: Extinction. Running between 2002 and 2017, the Capcom game series birthed a total of six movies that shared a self-contained continuity but were separate from the source material. The seventh film, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, was released in 2021 and rebooted the timeline of the Resident Evil movies.

Sonic 4 has yet to be confirmed, so the Sega property receiving a third sequel may be dependent on how Sonic the Hedgehog 3 performs at the box office. Based on the success and popularity of the first two Sonic movies, a good outing for the third film may very well lead to another being commissioned. However, it’s difficult to tell at this point if the series will continue to do well, reaching or possibly exceeding the seven-movie benchmark set by Resident Evil​​​​​.

Other Video Game Movie Franchises Have 3 Movies (But Aren’t True Trilogies)

Tomb Raider’s three movies don’t count

Sonic and Resident Evil aren’t the only properties to receive three or more movies, but they are the only ones to have those films share a canon. In other words, the first three Sonic movies are all part of the same continuity, and the same is true for the first six Resident Evil films. Other games have spawned three movies, but their resultant film franchises received a hard reset after the release of the first one or two installments.

For instance, 1995’s Mortal Kombat movie was based on a game by NetherRealm studios and received just one sequel in 1997. The third movie in the series, also titled Mortal Kombat, was a 2021 reboot, meaning the in-world events were starting afresh. Angelina Jolie’s Tomb Raider movies shared a similar fate. Following a 2003 sequel to 2001’s Lara: Croft Tomb Raider, the franchise took a fifteen-year rest before returning. As a result, Angelina Jolie’s Tomb Raider 3 never happened, and 2018’s Tomb Raider rebooted the movie universe.

Will Any Other Video Game Movie Franchises Eventually Become Trilogies?

Uncharted and Super Mario are on the verge of flourishing as movie franchises

Despite the sporadic success of video game movies through the years, there are a few active works that stand a good chance of developing into a series of three or more films. For instance, Tom Holland’s 2022 Uncharted movie was adapted from a game by Naughty Dog, and it did very well at the box office despite huge deviations from its source material. Uncharted’s post-credits scene teased the possibility of a sequel. In addition, actor Mark Wahlberg, who played Victor “Sully” Sullivan in the first movie, told TheGamer, “Somebody’s written a script, and they’re still working on it.”

Another contender for the next video game movie trilogy is a contemporary of Sonic. The good reception of 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie is likely to lead to a second offering, although this, too, is yet to be officially confirmed. As with other video game movie franchises, the movie marked a reboot, with the failed 1991 live-action Super Mario Bros. being the first effort at adapting the games into a movie.

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So, although history would suggest that audiences aren’t too interested in video game movies, recent trends hint at the fact that attitudes are changing. The continued success of the Sonic movie franchise should encourage the relevant studios to push on with existing movies like Uncharted and The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Other studios could also take a chance and adapt more video games. Either way, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is still coming, and the future of the series could hold even more adventures.