Draft:Sonic the Hedgehog (film series)

Sonic the Hedgehog is an American-Japanese live action/computer animated action-adventure superhero comedy film and media franchise developed by Paramount Global and Sega Sammy Group. It is based on the video game series and media franchise of the same name. The franchise currently consists of two released films, with a third in production, and a spin-off TV series set to release in April 2024. The franchise has been primarily directed by Jeff Fowler, who directed all three films and the pilot of Knuckles (2024).

Background
Development for a Sonic the Hedgehog film had occurred dating back to 1993, when Michealene Risley, consumer products director of Sega of America negotiated with several Hollywood producers. Risley had helped license Sonic for the animated series Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. Sega of America CEO Tom Kalinske feared of damaging the brand, citing the commercial and critical failures of Hollywood Pictures/Cinergi Pictures' Super Mario Bros. and Universal Pictures/Columbia Pictures' Street Fighter. Despite Kalinske's concerns, Sega was enthusiastic. In August 1994, Sega struck a development deal with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Trilogy Entertainment Group, with Pen Densham as executive producer. The film was to be titled Sonic the Hedgehog: Wonders of the World, and would follow Sonic after coming into the real world of a kid named Josh and fighting Dr. Robotnik. MGM later cancelled the film after a failed attempt to give the film to DreamWorks Pictures.

In 2002, Ben Hurst pitched an animated Sonic film to DIC Entertainment that would be continuation of Sonic SatAM, in which he worked as a writer. DiC put Hurst in contact with a Sega executive interested in the idea. Hurst was contacted by Ken Penders, writer of the Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series, who had been alerted of Hurst's plans. Though Hurst told him his strategy and offered to include him in his effort, Penders told Sega that Hurst was trying to co-opt the franchise, leading Sega to dismiss Hurst and his proposal. In September 2003, Penders pitched his own concept for a Sonic film, Sonic Armageddon. In Penders' words, the movie would have been an origin story and a series reset, resolving the plot threads which began in the animated Sonic show and continued in Archie's comic series. The project was dropped in 2007 due to a corporate upheaval and the death of Sega licensing manager Robert Leffler, who had supported Penders. Penders later confirmed that the film was not pitched to DreamWorks at all.

Films
In 2013, Sony Pictures Entertainment acquired the rights to produce and distribute a Sonic film. On June 10, 2014, a live-action animated film was announced as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Marza Animation Planet, a Japan-based subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings which had produced CGI cutscenes for several Sonic games. It would be produced by Neal H. Moritz by his Original Film banner alongside Takeshi Ito, Mie Onishi, and Toru Nakahara, and written by Evan Susser and Van Robichaux. In February 2016, Sega CEO Hajime Satomi said the film was scheduled for 2018. Blur Studio's Tim Miller and Jeff Fowler were hired in 2016 to develop it, with the film being the latter's feature directorial debut and Miller serving as executive producer. Blur Studio previously produced cutscenes for the games Shadow the Hedgehog (2005), for which Fowler directed cutscenes, and Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). Patrick Casey, Josh Miller, and Oren Uziel were writing the screenplay, while Casey and Miller wrote the story.

On October 2, 2017, Paramount Pictures announced that they had acquired the rights after Sony put the film in turnaround. Filming began in September 2018. Following the release of the first trailer in April 2019, the film was delayed from its Novmeber 2019 release date to re-design Sonic after his original design was heavily criticized. The film was released in February 2020 to a mixed-to-positive reception. The film features a post-credits scene featuring Miles "Tails" Prowler, with Fowler, Casey, Miller, and stars James Marsden and Ben Schwartz expressing interest in a sequel that further explored the video game's world.

A sequel was confirmed in May 2020, with most of the production team and cast returning from the first film.

Expansion into television
During development on Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the producers became interested in developing television series set in the films' universe that served as character studies for the cast, with the films serving as "these Avengers-level events" while the shows explore the franchise's supportong characters and give them more depth.

Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)
Having superhuman speed, Sonic is forced to abandon his home world of Mobius and ends up on Earth. After being discovered on Earth, he teams up with a human named Tom Wachowski to stop Dr. Ivo Robotnik, who wants to harness his powers. The first film in the series, it was released in theaters on February 14, 2020.

Originally intended for release on November 8, 2019, Sonic the Hedgehog was pushed back to February 14, 2020, due to the overwhelmingly negative response to Sonic's design in the first trailer. Upon its release, the film was met with mixed reviews from critics, but was a box-office success, becoming the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2020.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022)
Eight months the events of the first film, Sonic joins forces with Miles "Tails" Prower to stop Dr. Robotnik, who recruits Knuckles to find a powerful emerald that has the power to build and destroy civilizations.

Following the success of the first film, Paramount had confirmed that a sequel was in development in May 2020, with Fowler set to return as director alongside writers Casey and Josh Miller. Neal H. Mortiz, Toby Ascher, and Toru Nakahara produced the sequel, having previously co-produced the first film alongside Takeshi Ito, while Tim Miller, Hajime Satomi, and Haruki Satomi returned from the first film as executive producers. Most of the first film's cast returned to reprise their roles, with Idris Elba joining the voice cast as Knuckles the Echidna. Filming began in March 2021, in Vancouver, Canada. The film premiered internationally in March 30, 2022, followed by a world premiere on April 5, 2022, and a theatrical release in the United States in April 8.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024)
In February 2022, Sega and Paramount confirmed that a third Sonic the Hedgehog film was in active development, with Schwartz reprising his role, who expressed interest in it being subtitled "The Next Level". In April 2022, after Carrey announced that he was considering retiring from acting, producers Moritz and Ascher confirmed that his role as Dr. Robotnik would not be recast in any sequels if he followed through with his retirement plans. However, they remained hopeful that they could develop a script good enough for him to continue the role. On August 8, 2022, it was announced that the film would release in theaters on December 20, 2024. The character Shadow the Hedgehog is also expected to appear following his cameo in the mid-credit scene of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, although there was no confirmation for his voice actor at the time. In June 2023, it was reported that filming would begin in late August 2023 in London. Due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, filming would start in September 2023 without actors. In February 2024, it was officially confirmed that Carrey would be reprising his role for the film, while Krysten Ritter, Alyla Browne, James Wolk, Sofia Pernas, Cristo Fernández, and Jorma Taccone were cast in undisclosed roles.

The film will be set after the events of Knuckles (2024).

Other
In April 2022, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 director Jeff Fowler expressed interest in a future potential crossover film between Sonic the Hedgehog and the Universal Pictures' Mario film by Illumination Entertainment, tentatively entitled "Mario Versus Sonic", agreeing that "it would take a bit of rights-wrangling and negotiations [to] make it happen", but concluding that "there's a little twinkle in his eye about it all".

Around the World in 80 Seconds (2020)
On the home media release of the first film a short film set after the events of the film.

Sonic Drone Home (2022)
On May 23, 2022, a digital release was announced with an animated short film called Sonic Drone Home following the events of the second film with Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles trying to deal with a badnik upgrading itself at the Green Hills Junkyard.

Knuckles
Knuckles the Echidna takes Green Hills deputy officer Wade Whipple as his apprentice, teaching him the ways of the Echidnas.

On February 15, 2022, during ViacomCBS' investor day, a television series centered around Knuckles was revealed to be in development for Paramount+, with it set for release in 2024 John Whittington was announced as head writer and executive producer in April 2023, with Toby Ascher announced as showrunner and co-developer alongside Wittington in February 2024. Additional executive-producers include Idris Elba and Sonic film director Jeff Fowler, who directed the pilot. Filming began on April 2023 in London, England.

The series is set after Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022), and sets up the events of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024). Elba, Adam Pally, Tika Sumpter, Ben Schwartz, and Colleen O'Shaughnessey reprise their respective roles from the films as Knuckles, Wade Whipple, Maddie, Sonic, and Tails. All six episodes are set to premiere on April 26, 2024 on Paramount+.

Future
In April 2024, Toby Ascher said the possibility for other television series was possible should Knuckles be a success and as long as the filmmakers had a "really great story to tell".

Comics
In an exclusive Steelbook release of the first film a short comic was added called Sonic the Hedgehog: The Adventures of Sonic & Donut Lord.

As a promotional tie-in to Sonic the Hedgehog 2, a prequel comic called Sonic the Hedgehog 2: The Official Movie Pre-Quill was released in March 30, 2022.

Nivelizations
For the first 2 films novelizations were released.

Video games
As a promotional tie-in to the first Sonic the Hedgehog film, the version of Sonic seen in it was added as a playable character to the mobile games Sonic Dash and Sonic Forces.