While December is known for its red, white, and green festivities, we're going to get a whole lot of blue in the Christmases to come. This December, James Cameron will bring moviegoers back to Pandora with the long-awaited and much-anticipated sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water. And December 20th, 2024 is set to be the bluest day of the year. Maybe of all time, really. It was just announced that Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will debut alongside Avatar: The Seed Bearer in theaters nationwide. It's about time someone called Eiffel 65 because that's a whole lot of blue. Da ba dee da ba di. Da ba dee da ba di...
The release date announcement was made by Sonic the Hedgehog's official Twitter page. They noted that they're "running faster, flying higher, and punching harder" with their latest sequel, which will likely conclude the series that started back in February 2020. Not much else is known about the plot for this forthcoming follow-up, other than this vague synopsis, though this spring's Sonic the Hedgehog 2 gave us a pretty good idea of what we can expect. As such, expect some spoilers for Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
The action-adventure blockbuster concluded with our titular Blue Blur befriending Tails and, after some reluctance on the latter's part, Knuckles, all of whom are living with the Wachowskis. As the end credit teaser notes, however, the three fast-chasing, high-flying, superpowered super-animals will soon face one of their greatest challenges yet, as G.U.N. uncovers the long-hidden Shadow the Hedgehog, which will serve as this threequel's main antagonist. Thus, it'll expectedly combine elements of 2005's Shadow the Hedgehog with some untapped segments from 2001's Sonic Adventure 2. For fans of the Sega video game series, this is pretty much a given for where the film franchise would go. Still, it should prove to be an exciting and eventful cinematic conclusion.
In February 2022, a couple of months before Sonic the Hedgehog 2 premiered in theaters around the world, Paramount announced that they were moving forward with not only Sonic the Hedgehog 3 but a Knuckles spin-off mini-series, with Idris Elba set to reprise his voice role for the Paramount+ original. The streaming show is slated to come out sometime in 2023. Alongside Elba, Ben Schwartz and Collen O'Shaughnessey are expected to reprise their roles of Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles "Tails" Prower, respectively, in this upcoming sequel. Additionally, James Marsden and Tika Sumpter will likely be seen in this Sonic sequel as well as Tom and Maddie Wachowski, respectively. With that said, there's a sad chance that Jim Carrey might not be back to play Doctor Ivo Robotnik in this new film.
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Around the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Carrey said that he was "fairly serious" about retiring from acting, a decision that the film's producers, Neal H. Moritz and Toby Ascher, claim they will respect if the veteran comedian sticks to his word. The producers have noted that there are currently no plans to recast Robotnik if Carrey decided not to come back, though they expressed hope that they would develop a script that entices the superstar to return for more. Only time will tell there, though.
Here's what we do know: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was a sizable hit, particularly at an uncertain time for the movies. It earned as much, if not more, critical praise than its predecessor and outgrossed the first film at the global box office as well. It seemed like a given that Sonic the Hedgehog would be back for another globe-trotting adventure, and the studio is wasting no time putting it together. There's a lot left unknown about this family-friendly sequel, including whether or not director Jeff Fowler, who helmed the first two movies, will return. But we'll surely learn more about Sonic the Hedgehog 3 as it races its way towards its newly-minted release date.
Check out Sonic the Hedgehog 2's final trailer below: