Sonic the Hedgehog Cinematic Universe Thread (& Knuckles)

I was saying regardless of who was at the wheel or objective quality, I don't think it could bring any significant boost to the series, which would be disappointing on those levels. It would further be disappointing from the perspective of people who are specifically seeking out a series led by voices in the country and the mostly likely askers for a "Sonic anime". That's all there is to that lol.

 

So, Sonic 3 is #1 again this week at US Box Office, yet the Mufasa official account claimed otherwise, which led to this funny thing where they are hiding lots and lots and LOTS of tweets calling them out and posting sonic/shadow images

https://xcancel.com/FyrusYT/status/1873524343462052105?t=ww5MWUUyRHxM5Ta72OisuQ&s=35

 

I swear to god if the movies manage to better integrate the ancients lore into the world than Frontiers, I will laugh myself to death

 

Mufasa is #1 internationally, why lie about being #1 in the US and then hide replies correcting it? Who handles their social media, a teenaged girl? Talk about spiteful, it's hilarious.

Pretty happy about Sonic doing so well. It still has to open in China and parts of Europe, so things might still get better.

 

What's funny is they did have a tweet earlier where they said they are #1 in the world -not mentioning US-, which also had a community note funnily enough even tho it's true, so them going the extra mile and adding "best in US" is totally unnecessary

 

They're probably claiming that based on Mufasa beating Sonic 3 for the five-day holiday weekend (Christmas + Boxing Day along with the traditional Fri/Sat/Sunday), even though Sonic 3 did win out for the three-day weekend.

Mufasa being a bigger draw on Christmas Day doesn't surprise me, it's probably a much easier sell for families. It's a prequel to a movie that basically everyone in the country has seen (the original 1994 Lion King grossed a billion, the remake doubled that, to say nothing of home video/streaming), Disney's own brand identity, Lin-Manuel Miranda songs is its own draw... and the fact that it could still only barely beat Sonic 3 is pretty telling.

 

The Sonic movie team could the funniest thing and poach Lin-Manuel Miranda to write a song for the next movie.

 

Lol I think you're spoiling something, just sayin'.

 

Oops you're right I edited that out.

 

God I wish this forum supported fucking tables

Domestic

We don't have actual numbers yet, but most tracking sites are declaring Sonic the winner for the 3-Day edging out Mufasa slightly. Sonic outgrossed Mufasa by a hair Friday to Sunday and ultimately it looks like it's enough to get ahead. As of right now, Sonic is at $38m vs Mufasa at $37m

3-Day

• Sonic 3 - $38m
• Mufasa - $37.1m

Mufasa did win the 5-day period thanks to the Christmas boost. Mufasa made $14m on Christmas day, beating out Sonic 3 at $10m. Nosferatu also got into the mix that day and beat Sonic with $11.5m, however it quickly fell off the race after Christmas. Most rags bought into the comeback hype just like they did with Sonic. The belief was that Mufasa was going to have strong legs going forward with projections going as high as $80m for the 5-day and leaving Sonic in the dust. But once Christmas was over, things settled down and Mufasa's momentum slowed down and settled for in the $63.8m for the 5-day.

5-Day

• Mufasa - $63.8m
• Sonic 3 - $59.9m

Despite being on less screens and zero IMAX presence (Mufasa owned them all and made up over 20% of their grosses), Sonic 3 still managed to go toe to toe with Disney's latest offering and come out on top. Mufasa is still showing stronger legs than Sonic however, and it may ultimately overtake Sonic as the weeks go by. There's currently a $24m gap between the two films and Mufasa could easily close that gap as the weeks go by. Overall, it was an excellent showing for Sonic 3 and Paramount and proof that this franchise has legs.

Domestic Total as of this week

• Sonic 3 - $135.6m
• Mufasa - $113.5m

Internationally

Sonic expanded to 52 markets this week with a stagger release. There are still some markets that it has yet to open (China, Brazil, Korea...). Its international debut landed it at $74m. While it wasn't the #1 film internationally and it wsan't #1 everywhere because of Mufasa, that's still a damn good number and a massive increase over the previous entries. I ain't gonna type all of this shit to format it on this stinky forum so here's an image.

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With a $74m debut, this easily beats the previous entries by a significant margin. Sonic 1 opened to $36.8m in 2020. Sonic 2 opened to $32.6m in 2022

The top 3 markets were United Kingdom, Mexico and France, all of which saw big increases over the previous film, especially the UK where it went up 131% vs. Sonic 2 ($15.1m vs. $6.5m).

Sonic 3's global total is currently at $211.5m. Sonic 1 finished off at $319.7m (*cough*) and Sonic 2 finished its global run at $405.5m I haven't had a chance to do my own math but the upward trajectory of the films, the good word of mouth and lack of new competitive product should give Sonic the space it needs to continue its impressive run. The other tracking sites think Sonic will easily be the best in the franchise. They seem to be using a leg a multiplayer* of 3.5x so it should be above $200m domestically. Same goes for the International market with a worldwide total run in the $500m+ range. With a reported budget of $120m, this is an absolute victory for the blue blur here.

Speaking of reception

Sonic 3 is still sitting at an 88% Rotten Tomato Score with 113 Reviews
Sonic 3 also scored an A on Cinemascore

Fearless Year of Shadow!​

*[Opening Week] * [Leg Multiplier] = [Total Run Estimate]
*To get a Leg Multiplier, take the [Total Run] and divide it by [Opening Week] of some comparable films and average them out

 

I want an AMERICAN anime style show a la Avatar. Based on the IDW comics, but with more fleshed out stories. I would kill for that actually

 

Forget about mufasa race, we have something more important to discuss



today was supposed to be the day , WHERE IS SHE?

 

12.30.24 @ 23:59:59, duh

 

Speaking less as a Sonic fan and more as a movie buff, one thing that's been really cool with these movies is seeing a more mid-level franchise chug along and not just be undeniably successful, but actually improving with each entry, both in box office receipts and in reviews. Despite each movie getting bigger and better, the budgets haven't really ballooned either - upper estimates of $90 million for the first movie, $110 million for the second and $122 million for the third.

Movies and video games have each entered a similar rut where it feels like everything has to be this huge, AAA+ behemoth that costs hundreds of millions of dollars to produce, or is an indie/prestige joint that costs like $20, with nothing in between. Not that either of those types of products can't be good, I just feel like it hurts the industry when the major studio film projects have so much riding on them, and stuff like Indiana Jones 5, Justice League, Solo etc. are considered "bombs" despite grossing nearly half a billion dollars each. (not passing judgment on those movies' quality, btw - strictly speaking from an industry perspective) Detective Pikachu didn't lead to any more live action Pokemon movies despite actually doing measurably better than Sonic 1 did, but Pikachu had a higher budget and way, way higher expectations that it probably was never going to meet.

The Sonic fanboy in me would have loved to see any of these movies do as well as the Illumination Mario movie did, but at the end of the day, I can't really complain. The movies are doing great, and well enough to justify pumping out plenty more for the foreseeable future. Hopefully other studios are taking notes.

(also gotta say, Jeff Fowler should totally demand a king's ransom from Paramount whenever he feels like moving on to a new project - first-time director helming three wildly successful franchise movies, dude's struck Hollywood gold)

 

I got this popcorn bucket that they're giving out in Mexico through Cinepolis.

(Puppies for size reference)



More pics if anyone wants to look.

I went down across the border to get it. I wished we would've gotten these worldwide. Missed opportunity not having a Shadow one though.

 

3 successful films, each with development woes outside of his control (with the exception of Sonic 1's original design). COVID Closure, COVID restrictions and recovery, Hollywood Strikes, Disney pushing a big film into their release window

How does he do it?!
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I just hope this upward trajectory of the films influences others to just stop trying to make adaptions that appeal to your average families and just embrace the source material some more.

 

What were the development woes for the third movie?

 

I have the urge to put some fake brains inside of that thing.

 

2023 Hollywood Strikes. It affected everyone, including Paramount. Filming started for Sonic 3 in 2023, but they could not film with actors until the strike ended in November.

 

Ah I see.