They probably didn’t want to spend too much on the first movie because it was already such a gamble due to video game movies not having a great reputation up to that point and not guaranteed to make bank. They also spent another few million redesigning and reanimating Sonic, and the music from Sonic 3 and Knuckles, which Sonic 2 is based on, is wrapped up in a lot of legal issues with the Michael Jackson estate because he contributed a lot to that game.
Also, licensing music is expensive, and most of the time it’s just not worth it. A lot of films with songs are even lucky to have what they have. These movies, as fun and entertaining as they are, don’t make an insane amount of money relative to their budgets. The only reason they were able to get “Live and Learn” for this film was because a) it’s pretty vital to and has a lot of association with the character of Shadow, and b) I imagine the music rights to secure it were a lot easier to maneuver.
-Sonic 1: $85 million budget, $319,715,68 worldwide box office
-Sonic 2: $110 million budget, $405,421,518 worldwide box office
It’s hard to say what Sonic 3 will make in the end, but it cost $122 million, opened up to $62 million, and will gradually open internationally from December 25 to the middle of January. A lot of people are on vacation celebrating Christmas right now, so there’s probably going to be a bit of a lull right now. That Christmas to January window is going to be the true test.
If I was betting on what the worldwide total will probably end up being, I would guess somewhere in the $500–$600 million range, maybe $700 million. Those first two films were released during and around the Covid pandemic, which definitely affected their box office a bit. Taking that into account, I imagine with how popular it’s being received and being in a fairly normal pandemic free environment, it could do very well. But, with Bird Flu upcoming and Trump as the next POTUS, we’ll see. Covid had a %1 mortality rate, and that really did a number on the box office and theaters. Bird Flu death rate is 50%, and if it’s handled the way Covid was by Trump in 2020, theaters are probably going to suffer even more.