Weekly Unaided Awareness Chart – Paramount Continues To Reap The Rewards Of Listening To Fans As SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3 Makes Its Debut

The Weekly Unaided Awareness Chart includes any film more than six weeks from release, registering at least 1% unaided awareness (UA). This metric is highly correlated to opening weekend gross. Early signs of UA more than six weeks out often translate to box office success upon release.

Two weeks ago, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3 was added to The Quorum. A week later, it makes its debut on the Unaided Awareness chart a full 31 weeks before its holiday release.

It’s pretty remarkable that we find ourselves in this position. For those who don’t recall, the SONIC franchise was nearly DOA. When the initial trailer for the first SONIC film was released, it was immediately met with pushback from the fans who didn’t like the rendering of the beloved title character. 

Rather than trying to convince the angry fans that Sonic would grow on them (a frequently fatal strategy), Paramount spent the next six months and millions of dollars retooling “Sonic.” Listening to the fans worked. SONIC THE HEDGEHOG opened to $58M, topping out at nearly $150M. 

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2 did even better, debuting at $72M and reaching $191M in total. And now, the third film in the franchise is generating unaided awareness more than six months before it arrives in theaters.

And to think that none of this would have happened if Paramount had ignored the fans and failed to retool the hedgehog. 

Elsewhere, TWISTERS returns after a four-week absence, thanks to a new trailer. JOKER: FOLIE Á DEUX is back after dropping off last week. And MUFASA: THE LION KING hangs on for a third frame.

IF had the highest unaided awareness of the week, though it stayed at 7%. Flat unaided combined with a 2-point dip in interest doesn’t bode well for the film, which is arriving in theaters on a soft note.