Last January, a Sonic the Hedgehog fan film was released by independent filmmaker Eddie Lebron that featured a hybrid of live-action and CGI elements. Like all fan films, however, the short got a mixed reception thanks to some spotty editing and sound mixing. Nevertheless, it was a valiant effort to show what a Sonic the Hedgehog feature-length film could look like, albeit on a significantly lower budget than expected from a larger studio. Unrelated to this week’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), as far as I can tell at least, is news that a proper Sonic the Hedgehog film is being produced by Sony.
Hollywood producer Neal Moritz, known for the Fast & Furious franchise amongst other Sony properties, is heading the project with Japanese film production company Marza Animation Planet for a live-action/CGI hybrid film starring the blue hedgehog. Evan Susser and Van Robichaux, alumni of the Upright Citizens Brigade comedy troupe, are writing the script. There’s no other word on the film outside of Dr. Eggman’s role as the main antagonist of the film.
As a life-long Sonic the Hedgehog fan, I’m obviously thrilled to see what can come of a proper Hollywood adaptation. However, there’s a good chance that the plot will resemble something more along the lines of the video game series, which isn’t well-known for having an interesting narrative. If Sega and Sony wanted to do this right, they’d reap stories from the successful line of Archie comics, which recently reached the 260 issue mark.
We’ll have more on the Sonic the Hedgehog film as more information becomes available.
[via The Hollywood Reporter]