This means that James Marsden, Ben Schwartz, Idris Elba, and the rest of the cast, will be back for their next adventure the same day that Disney and 20th Century Studios are planning to release Avatar 3. The studio is then shifting its release strategy to release Sonic 3 over the holiday season, to try to appeal to as many families as possible.
The first movie was released in February 2020, a month before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down all cinemas worldwide, and yet it still managed to make over $300M at the global box office. The second movie, released in April 2022, surpassed the first movie with $400M worldwide. The studio is clearly confident with a two-year window between movies, and the push back to late 2024 could be due to the bottleneck effect that the entire VFX industry is going through, which is producing a lot of delays and unfinished turn-ins. Still, it’s surprising that the studio opted for a Christmas release instead of waiting for a less competitive time two or three months later.