Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is speeding into cinemas this weekend, and whether you want to wait for it to drop on streaming or know when you’ll be able to re-watch it, it’s guaranteed to come to one platform.
Cast your mind back to video game movies in the ’90s and 2000s: in short, they were dreadful (barring a few limited exceptions, like Silent Hill and Resident Evil). Now, we’re in a golden era of adaptations like The Last of Us, Arcane, Super Mario, and yes, Sonic!
Soon, Sonic’s threequel will finally hit cinemas, bringing one of the franchise’s most iconic characters to live-action: Shadow the Hedgehog, voiced by the inimitable Keanu Reeves. As he would say, “woah.”
It’s going up against Mufasa: The Lion King, but it’s predicted to win the box office battle. Either way, it’ll eventually come to one streaming platform before anywhere else.
How to watch Sonic 3
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will be available exclusively in cinemas from December 20, 2024.
It’s a stacked festive season on the big screen: if you’re not interested in Mufasa, there’s also Kraven the Hunter (which is on track to be a huge flop), Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, and Wicked and Moana 2 are still doing huge box office numbers.
However, Sonic 3 is now looking at an opening weekend between $65-$85 million, which could see it secure the biggest launch of the trilogy.
There’s one thing you should know: Sonic 3 won’t be available on IMAX screens. There are two reasons: Mufasa will have them all booked (plus Interstellar’s re-release on IMAX has been a huge success), and Sonic 3 wasn’t designed for IMAX. You’ll still be able to see it on a huge screen, just not that specific premium large format.
Where to stream Sonic 3
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will come to Paramount Plus before any other streaming platform, and there’s a simple reason: it’s a Paramount Pictures movie.
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As for when it’ll drop on Paramount Plus, it should be available to stream at home by March 2025.
While it hasn’t been confirmed, look at other Paramount movies’ theatrical-to-streaming timelines: Mean Girls took 53 days, If lasted 53 days in cinemas, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1 came to Paramount Plus after 60 days, and Transformers One took 56 days.
Here’s the thing: it all depends on Sonic 3’s box office performance. If it is a massive success and maintains bookings into 2025, it won’t be hurried onto streaming. However, if sales start to dwindle, you may see it on streaming even sooner.
When will Sonic 3 come to digital?
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 could be available to buy or rent digitally as early as February 2025, but much like its streaming release, this hasn’t been confirmed.
We do have a recent example to give us a rough estimate. Gladiator 2 arrived in cinemas on November 22 (it premiered in the UK a week earlier), and its VOD release has been set for December 24. That’s a 32-day theatrical run before it drops on digital.
So, let’s do the math for Sonic 3: it comes to cinemas on December 20, so it could come to digital on January 21, 2025. However, this still needs to be confirmed by Paramount, so keep your eyes peeled for an official announcement.
In the meantime, find out more about the Sonic 3 Build-A-Bear collab, and check out our list of the best movies of 2024.