Sonic 3 beats Detective Pikachu to become the all-time second-highest grossing video game movie

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has become the second-highest grossing video game of all time in terms of global box office.

According to Box Office Mojo, the third Sonic movie’s recent takings over the weekend have it now sitting at a worldwide gross of $462.5 million.

This nudges it ahead of 2019 release Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, which until now was the second-highest grossing video game movie ever at $450 million.

It appears that second place is the highest the movie will reach, because in first is The Super Mario Bros Movie, which grossed an enormous $1.36 billion worldwide and overtook the likes of The Lion King, The Dark Knight and Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace to become the 17th highest-grossing film in US history.

Given that The Super Mario Bros Movie was fully animated, it does at least mean that Sonic 3 can now claim the crown of highest-grossing live action video game movie ever.

Sonic 3 also enjoyed widespread praise from critics and moviegoers alike, with its Rotten Tomatoes scores currently sitting at 86% fresh from critics and 95% fresh from the public.

The first two Sonic movies also enjoyed box office success for Paramount and Sega, earning a combined $725.2 million, plus $180 million more in home entertainment rentals and digital purchases. A spinoff Paramount+ series, Knuckles, was also released last year.

Last year, shortly before the release of Sonic 3 in cinemas, it was reported that Paramount had already greenlit a fourth Sonic movie.

Paramount confirmed this last month, announcing that Sonic the Hedgehog 4 will be released in cinemas on March 19, 2027.