More Sega Movies? Sonic the Hedgehog Movies' Success Paves Way for More

Sega is hoping to mimic the success of its Sonic the Hedgehog film franchise with other popular video games. Last month, the company's CEO Haruki Satomi spoke about the future of film and TV adaptations during a call with investors, and Video Game Chronicle published an English translation of the transcript. Satomi said that other Sega characters and stories might make their way to the screen in the years to come.

"We would like to take on challenges outside of the Sonic IP should the opportunity arise," Satomi said. "If we can match the timing of game launches to the release of movies, it would be extremely effective from a marketing perspective and there are also significant benefits, such as increasing awareness of our IP and increasing the number of touch points for customers, as we achieved with the Sonic movie."

Sonic the Hedgehog premiered in 2020 and made a huge profit at the box office in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic. Restrictions on public gatherings were at their height at the time with no vaccines available yet. The movie earned nearly $320 million at the global box office on a budget of $90 million. In 2022, Sonic The Hedgehog 2 did even better with $405.4 million on a $110 million budget. Both movies were profitable in the streaming market as well, and as Satomi pointed out, the increase in sales of video games and other merchandise is considerable.

After the success of the first film, Sega and Paramount began laying plans for a wide-ranging franchise. After Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the companies greenlit a streaming series centering around Knuckles, voiced by Idris Elba. That show is still slated for release sometime in 2023, though filming just began in April so it may be some time before fans get to see it for themselves. Meanwhile, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has been ordered with a tentative release date of Dec. 20, 2024.

The executives at Sega are likely also encouraged by the success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which became the highest-grossing video game adaptation of all time this spring. However, Sonic is likely Sega's most recognizable intellectual property for the average movie-goer, so any adaptation of another franchise would have to clear that hurdle. It's not clear what kind of crossover project the company might be planning next. For now, both Sonc the Hedgehog movies are streaming on Paramount+.