Paramount Sets ‘A Quiet Place 3’ to Debut in 2025, Another ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ Sequel in 2023

©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection

Paramount Pictures has given a taste of its upcoming theatrical film slate. During its annual investor day presentation on Tuesday, the studio announced plans for “A Quiet Place 3,” as well as another sequel to “Sonic the Hedgehog.”

The studio, which is often seeing as being outgunned by larger rivals such as Disney, Warner Bros. and Universal, tried to change the narrative with the investment community, hyping up its roster of film franchises.

Brian Robbins, the company’s newly installed president and chief executive officer of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon, proclaimed that the company had “the biggest, most iconic franchises serving everyone from preschoolers to boomers to generations X, Y and Z.” He also suggested that many of these cinematic properties won’t exist purely on the big screen. They will instead “live across films, series and consumer products.”

“A Quiet Place Part III” will debut in 2025. Other than offering its release year, details — including the involvement of writer-director John Krasinski and stars Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, and Noah Jupe — have been vague. However, their participation seems likely because the third movie will serve as a direct sequel to 2021’s pandemic-era box office hit “A Quiet Place Part II.”

After steering “A Quiet Place” to critical and commercial glory, Krasinski wrote and directed the follow-up film, which opened in May 2021 and grossed nearly $300 million globally, a huge feat amid COVID-19. The threequel is separate from writer-director Michael Sarnoski’s upcoming “A Quiet Place” installment, which takes place in the post-apocalyptic world where talking and making sounds of any kind is a big no-no but isn’t expected to center on the Abbott clan. Paramount has yet to announce who will star in the film, but the studio has scheduled it to premiere in theaters on Sept. 22, 2023.

Paramount has also commenced development on a third feature film in the “Sonic the Hedgehog” franchise. The news comes ahead of the release of “Sonic the Hedgehog 2,” which is set to open on April 8. Along with “Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” producers Paramount and Sega have set a television series about Knuckles, a character in Sonic’s orbit who is voiced by Idris Elba.

“We are delighted to announce that the third Sonic theatrical film and the first live action Sonic series for Paramount Plus are being actively developed,” Haruki Satomi, CEO of Sega Corporation. “We’ve got a remarkable partnership with Paramount, and we are excited to continue expanding the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise with them. 2022 is shaping up to be a significant year for the franchise with the second film being released this April, as well as Sonic Frontiers, the highly anticipated video game title, coming this holiday. Sonic has been beloved by fans across the world for over 30 years and we look forward to continuing to bring memorable moments and experiences to them for many years to come.”

“Sonic the Hedgehog” became a surprise success, ending its theatrical run with $319 million globally and setting a record for the highest-grossing video game adaptation in North America. Ben Schwartz is returning to voice the title character, a speedy blue creature with a knack for busting bad guys, and Jim Carrey is reprising his role as Doctor Robotnik, the mad scientist obsessed with achieving world domination. James Marsden and Tika Sumpter, as the local sheriff Tom Wachowski and his veterinarian wife Maddie, will be back for the sequel as well.

Robbins took over at Paramount in September, replacing industry veteran Jim Gianopulos. He is known for having a keen understanding of younger audiences, having launched and successfully sold AwesomenessTV. Robbins was also a major proponent of Paramount’s hit “Paw Patrol” film, which became the most streamed film title on Paramount Plus and received several shoutouts during the hour-and-change long presentation.

Paramount also used its time on stage to announce that it will bring back the “Star Trek” reboot cast and crew of Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana and Zachary Quinto in a new space adventure that is set to start shooting this year.

“We’re thrilled about this film, we have a bunch of other stories that we’re talking about that we think will be really exciting so can’t wait for you to see what we’re cooking up,” producer J.J. Abrams said. “But until then, live long and prosper.”

To highlight its franchise fare, Paramount also mentioned that it is planning a new “Transformers” trilogy starring Anthony Ramos of “In the Heights” fame and directed by “Creed II” filmmaker Steven Caple Jr., along with a spinoff animated film featuring the popular robots.

But all of these cinematic offerings are in service of growing Paramount Plus, its in-house Netflix challenger. To that end, Paramount movies will begin to stream exclusively on the series starting in 2024 and many of the new installments in the studio’s franchises will also launch spinoff films and shows.

“The home for all of our fantastic films will be Paramount Plus,” promised Robbins.