Shortly before Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was released, it was confirmed that a fourth movie would open in Spring 2027. Now, it's been confirmed that Sonic the Hedgehog 4 will drop on March 19 of that year.
This isn't surprising, particularly as the third movie, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, has already become the franchise's highest-grossing instalment with $218 million domestically and $422 million worldwide. The threequel has already hit digital platforms, which is a shame in some ways as there was surely still money to be made at the box office.
Still, the studio has to be happy with this result as the franchise continues getting bigger; Sonic the Hedgehog grossed $319 million globally in 2020 and the sequel, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, topped that with $405 million. As a result, the series has now collectively passed $1 billion.
According to Paramount Pictures, the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise has driven over $180 million in global consumer spending from home entertainment rentals and digital purchases. The Knuckles TV series was also a big draw for the Paramount+ streaming service.
There are rumblings among social media scoopers that the fourth movie will be the last one, though several spin-offs are thought to be planned.
Talking to Screen Rant (via GameFragger.com), franchise director Jeff Fowler said this about plans for Sonic the Hedgehog 4 after the third instalment introduced Amy Rose and Metal Sonic in the movie's mid-credits scene:
"I mean, usually the way these post-credit teasers work is we're so jamming on finishing the film, but at the same time, you don't want to just throw characters in there and not know what you're going to do with them. So, there's certainly, as we were winding down on Sonic 3, and as we were prepping that post-credit teaser, we absolutely have had a lot of really great creative discussions and got excited by some ideas."
"Because you don't want to paint yourself into a corner and put a character in there and then not know what you're going to do with it. But it's all very preliminary, and much more work needing to come in order to really get that process going."
"I love to just watch the fan conversation, and just see where things go. Obviously, casting is such a huge part of any of these characters, but it does kind of come from the needs of the story and of the script. So, I think I want to make sure that, whatever direction it goes, that it is servicing the character needs for whatever story is being told."
You can check out Sonic the Hedgehog 3's stinger in HD below: