Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (film)
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 | |
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![]() Teaser poster | |
Directed by | Jeff Fowler |
Screenplay by | |
Story by |
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Based on | Sonic the Hedgehog by Sega[a] |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Brandon Trost |
Edited by | Al LeVine |
Music by | Tom Holkenborg |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
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Countries |
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Language | English |
Sonic the Hedgehog 3[b] is an upcoming action-adventure comedy film based on the video game series published by Sega. It is directed by Jeff Fowler and written by Pat Casey, Josh Miller, and John Whittington, based on a story by Casey and Miller. Jim Carrey, Ben Schwartz, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Idris Elba, Colleen O'Shaughnessey, Natasha Rothwell, Adam Pally, Shemar Moore, and Lee Majdoub reprise their roles with Alyla Browne, Krysten Ritter, and Keanu Reeves joining the cast. In the film, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles must ally with Dr. Robotnik to defeat a new enemy, Shadow the Hedgehog.
Plans for a third Sonic the Hedgehog film were announced in February 2022 during ViacomCBS's investor event before the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, filming for animated characters began in July 2023 in Surrey, England, while filming with physical actors began in November of that year in London, with production concluding by March 2024. The film draws inspiration from the video games Sonic Adventure 2 (2001) and Shadow the Hedgehog (2005).
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is scheduled to be theatrically released by Paramount Pictures in the United States on December 20, 2024.
Premise
Sonic, Tails and Knuckles face a mysterious and powerful new adversary, Shadow the Hedgehog. The trio forms an unlikely alliance with Dr. Robotnik in hopes of stopping Shadow and protecting the planet.[4]
Cast
Voice cast
- Ben Schwartz as Sonic the Hedgehog: An anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who can run at supersonic speeds.[5]
- Colleen O'Shaughnessey as Miles "Tails" Prower: An anthropomorphic yellow-orange fox who can fly with his twin-tails.[5]
- Idris Elba as Knuckles the Echidna: A hot-headed and serious anthropomorphic red echidna warrior with super strength.[5]
- Keanu Reeves as Shadow the Hedgehog: An anthropomorphic red-striped black hedgehog created from a secret government program called Project Shadow.[6] He can teleport and has extreme strength.[7] He has lived through tragedy and seeks revenge.[8] Director Jeff Fowler felt honored to adapt the character for the screen, having worked as a cutscene animator on Shadow's eponymous 2005 game.[9]
Live-action cast
- Jim Carrey in a dual role as the following:
- Dr. Ivo Robotnik, a mad scientist and Sonic's arch-nemesis who he often refers to as "Eggman".[5]
- Gerald Robotnik, Ivo's grandfather.[10]
- James Marsden as Tom Wachowski, the adoptive father of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, and the sheriff of Green Hills, Montana.[5]
- Tika Sumpter as Maddie Wachowski, Tom's wife, the adoptive mother of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, and the local veterinarian of Green Hills.[5]
- Krysten Ritter as Director Rockwell[11]
- Natasha Rothwell as Rachel, Maddie's sister.[12]
- Lee Majdoub as Agent Stone, Ivo Robotnik's assistant.[5]
- Tom Butler as Commander Walters, the former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who is the leader of the military organization Guardian Units of Nations (G.U.N.).[5]
- Adam Pally as Wade Whipple, a dim-witted deputy sheriff of Green Hills[13]
- Shemar Moore as Randall Handel, Rachel's husband who is an agent for G.U.N..[12]
- Alyla Browne as Maria,[14] a girl who Shadow befriends during his time in a lab.[15]
Additionally, Sofia Pernas, Cristo Fernández, James Wolk, and Jorma Taccone were cast in undisclosed roles.[5]
Production
Development
In March 2020, James Marsden confirmed that he had signed on for multiple sequels to Sonic the Hedgehog (2020).[16] In February 2022, Sega Sammy Group and Paramount Pictures had been developing a third film after Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022). It was formally announced during ViacomCBS's investor event.[17] Jeff Fowler returned as director, and Neal H. Moritz, Toby Ascher, Toru Nakahara, and Hitoshi Okuno returned as producers.[18] Haruki Satomi, Shuji Utsumi, Yukio Sugino, Fowler, Tommy Gormley, and Tim Miller served as executive producers.[19] Pat Casey, Josh Miller, and John Whittington returned to write the screenplay, with the former two also being credited for the story.[19] Paul Greenberg and Oren Uziel received off-screen additional literary material credit.[20] In addition, a spin-off television series for Paramount+, Knuckles, was developed simultaneously with the film.[17] The film will draw inspiration from the video games Sonic Adventure 2 (2001) and Shadow the Hedgehog (2005).[21][22]
In April 2022, Jim Carrey–who portrays Dr. Robotnik in the films–announced that he was considering retiring from acting.[23] With his possible retirement, Moritz and Ascher confirmed that his role as Robotnik would not be recast in any sequels if he followed through with his retirement plans. However, they remained hopeful that they could develop scripts good enough for him to continue the role.[24] Carrey conceded, requiring that "the angels bring some sort of script that's written in gold ink that says to me that it's going to be really important for people to see" if he were to continue.[25]
Filming and casting
Second-unit filming began in late July 2023 for animated characters only without physical actors (due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike) in Farnham, Surrey, England.[26] Principal photography was originally scheduled to begin on August 31, 2023, in London, England,[27][28] but was delayed to September of that year.[29] Production with physical actors started on November 29, 2023, and was announced with a teaser image of Shadow the Hedgehog's stand-in statue used in filming.[30] Brandon Trost returns as cinematographer for the film.[11] Luke Freeborn serves as production designer.[11]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/90/Keanu_Reeves_%28crop_and_levels%29_%28cropped%29.jpg/174px-Keanu_Reeves_%28crop_and_levels%29_%28cropped%29.jpg)
In February 2024, Carrey was officially confirmed to be reprising his role in the film,[18] along with Marsden, Ben Schwartz, Tika Sumpter, Colleen O'Shaughnessey, Idris Elba, Lee Majdoub, and Tom Butler.[5] Krysten Ritter, Alyla Browne, James Wolk, Sofia Pernas, Cristo Fernández, and Jorma Taccone were cast in undisclosed roles;[5] Taccone was previously hired as an episode director for the Knuckles series.[33] On February 16, Browne's role was revealed as Maria.[14] Schwartz began recording for the film by the week after.[34]
Marsden said that filming had been completed by March 14, 2024,[35] while Fowler officially revealed that the film had wrapped production on March 29.[36] On April 15, 2024, it was reported that Keanu Reeves had joined the cast as the voice of Shadow.[6]
Post-production
As a cost-cutting measure, the producers had an in-house animation team at Paramount work on both Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and the Knuckles series.[37] Al LeVine serves as editor.[11] According to Ascher, the team "made an investment in the Sonic assets and [...] built them in-house," then distributed them to the several different vendors, which he noted was comparatively different from previous installments where "usually the vendor controls the assets that they rig." Owning the assets also allowed for their in-house team to work exclusively on Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Knuckles, and helped the production "keep costs down and move faster."[37] Fowler emphasized the need for visual continuity between the projects and cited good communication as being key to achieving this.[37]
Music
Tom Holkenborg, who composed the score for the first two Sonic films, returned to score Sonic the Hedgehog 3[38] and had finished work by July 2024.[39] In December 2023, Crush 40 vocalist Johnny Gioeli said there had been talks of including "Live & Learn", the theme song from Sonic Adventure 2.[40] In February 2024, Gioeli confirmed "Live & Learn" would be included in the film.[41]
Release
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is scheduled to be released theatrically in the United States by Paramount Pictures on December 20, 2024, taking over the original release date of The Smurfs Movie (2025).[42]
Marketing
In April 2024 at CinemaCon, Paramount showcased first-look footage of the film, which featured a heavier Robotnik bemoaning his current state before his assistant Agent Stone informs that "they found him", and Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles fighting a silent Shadow.[43] In July, a popcorn bucket and action figures produced by Jakks Pacific were leaked online.[44] On August 25, the first official tease of Keanu Reeves's involvement as Shadow was posted to the film's TikTok account, which referenced the actor's mention in the first film, captioned "foreSHADOWing".[45] Beginning at that time, images of the film's characters were projected on buildings in locations globally in promotion of the film's first trailer,[46] which released on August 27 alongside a teaser poster.[47] Reeves's role was considered the most prominent feature in the trailer.[7][48][49] IGN observed that "Keanu Reeves is very much in Keanu Reeves mode here",[4] and Vulture likened the actor's moody and vengeful portrayal of Shadow to a John Wick performance.[50] Both Ash Parrish of The Verge and Paul Tassi of Forbes agreed that Reeves's voice was satisfactory, and Parrish also noted Maria's reveal, anticipating how the film would adapt her fate.[15][7]
See also
Notes
- ^ Sonic the Hedgehog was developed by Sonic Team, published by Sega, directed and programmed by Yuji Naka, designed by Hirokazu Yasuhara, and illustrated by Naoto Ohshima.[1][2]
- ^ Known in Japan as Sonic x Shadow TOKYO MISSION (Japanese: ソニック × シャドウ TOKYO MISSION, Hepburn: Sonikku x Shadō TOKYO MISSION)[3]
References
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- ^ Power, Ed (February 16, 2020). "How Sega conquered the video games industry – and then threw it all away". The Independent. Archived from the original on February 17, 2020. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
- ^ @SonicOfficialJP (August 27, 2024). "映画『ソニック × シャドウTOKYO MISSION』2024/12/27(金) 劇場公開" (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved August 27, 2024 – via Twitter.
- ^ a b Yin-Poole, Wesley (August 27, 2024). "First Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Trailer Reveals Keanu Reeves' Shadow, Dr. Robotnik's Father, and a Whole Bunch More". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on August 29, 2024. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Bankhurst, Adam (February 2, 2024). "Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Adds Krysten Ritter, Cristo Fernández, Alyla Browne, and More". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on February 2, 2024. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
- ^ a b Couch, Aaron; Kit, Borys (April 15, 2024). "Keanu Reeves Joins 'Sonic 3' as Shadow". The Hollywood Reporter. Eldridge Industries. Archived from the original on April 15, 2024. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
- ^ a b c Tassi, Paul (August 27, 2024). "First 'Sonic The Hedgehog 3' Trailer Reveals Keanu Reeves' Shadow". Forbes. Integrated Whale Media Investments. Archived from the original on August 28, 2024. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
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- ^ Graham-Lowery, Nathan (August 29, 2024). "Sonic The Hedgehog 3 Director Reveals Personal Connection To Shadow Ahead Of Villain's Debut". Screen Rant. Valnet. Archived from the original on August 30, 2024. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
- ^ Dedmon, Tanner (August 27, 2024). "Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Trailer Reveals Surprise Character Also Played by Jim Carrey". ComicBook.com. Savage Ventures. Archived from the original on August 29, 2024. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
- ^ a b c d Kelley, Aiden (April 20, 2024). "'Sonic the Hedgehog 3': Everything We Know About the Blue Speedster's Return". Collider. Valnet. Archived from the original on August 31, 2024. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
- ^ a b Deschamps, Mark (August 26, 2024). "Sonic the Hedgehog 3: Every Confirmed Cast Member". ComicBook.com. Savage Ventures. Archived from the original on August 26, 2024. Retrieved August 26, 2024.
- ^ "SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3". Paramount Pictures – Press Assets Catalog. Paramount Pictures. Archived from the original on August 28, 2024. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
- ^ a b Perine, Aaron (February 16, 2024). "Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Star Confirms Casting As Fan-Favorite Character". ComicBook.com. Paramount Global. Archived from the original on April 19, 2024. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
- ^ a b Parrish, Ash. "Sonic the Hedgehog 3 trailer triples the action and the bad guys". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on August 29, 2024. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
- ^ Perine, Aaron (March 6, 2020). "Sonic the Hedgehog Star James Marsden Confirms He's Signed on for Multiple Sequels". ComicBook.com. Paramount Global. Archived from the original on March 7, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
- ^ a b Kroll, Justin (February 15, 2022). "Sonic The Hedgehog Universe Continues To Grow As Sega And Paramount Sign Off On Third Film As Well As A Knuckles Spin-Off Series In The Works At Paramount+ With Idris Elba Reprising Role". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on February 15, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
- ^ a b Lang, Brent (February 2, 2024). "Jim Carrey Returning for 'Sonic the Hedgehog 3' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on February 2, 2024. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
- ^ a b Grobar, Matt (August 27, 2024). "'Sonic The Hedgehog 3' Trailer: Keanu Reeves Debuts As Sonic's Adversary Shadow In Paramount Threequel". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on August 31, 2024. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
- ^ "Sonic the Hedgehog 3". Writers Guild of America West. Archived from the original on June 18, 2024. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
- ^ Russell, Bradley (April 22, 2024). "Sonic 3 producer says it's going to be a "giant, fun, incredible movie" that "takes a lot from Sonic Adventure 2"". GamesRadar+. Future plc. Archived from the original on April 22, 2024. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
- ^ Yang, Katrina (June 12, 2024). "Everything We Know About Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (So Far)". CBR. Valnet. Archived from the original on June 13, 2024. Retrieved August 26, 2024.
according to screenwriters Pat Casey and Josh Miller, the third Sonic movie has taken great inspiration from the video games Sonic Adventures 2 and Shadow the Hedgehog
- ^ Sharf, Zack (April 1, 2022). "Jim Carrey 'Fairly Serious' About Retiring From Acting: 'I Have Enough. I've Done Enough'". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on April 7, 2022. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
- ^ Dick, Jeremy (April 7, 2022). "Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Producers Believe Jim Carrey Would Return for Part 3". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on April 7, 2022. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
- ^ Stolworthy, Jacob (April 2, 2022). "Jim Carrey claims he is retiring from acting: 'I've done enough'". The Independent. Archived from the original on August 27, 2024. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
- ^ Williams, Sophie (July 30, 2023). "Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Begins Filming in Surrey with Leaked Set Images". Maxblizz. Archived from the original on July 30, 2023. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
- ^ Paz, Maggie Dela (June 20, 2023). "Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Production Start Date Revealed for Ben Schwartz-Led Movie". ComingSoon.net. Evolve Media. Archived from the original on November 15, 2023. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
- ^ McCall, Kevin (June 20, 2023). "'Sonic the Hedgehog 3' Sets Summer Filming Date in London". Collider. Valnet. Archived from the original on November 15, 2023. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
- ^ Tabbara, Mona (August 8, 2023). "UK crews in crisis as SAG-AFTRA strike thwarts production: "Is the UK industry really our own?"". Screen Daily. Media Business Insight. Archived from the original on August 8, 2023. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
- ^ Tinoco, Armando (November 29, 2023). "'Sonic The Hedgehog 3' Teases First Look At Shadow". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on November 29, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
- ^ Fenlon, Wes (April 15, 2024). "Keanu Reeves is Shadow the Hedgehog in the third Sonic movie, fulfilling fan casting dreams". PC Gamer. Future plc. Archived from the original on April 17, 2024. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
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- ^ a b c Gaur, Ryan (April 24, 2024). "The Creative Forces Behind 'Knuckles' Give Us the Scoop on the Paramount+ Series". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on April 30, 2024. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
- ^ "Tom Holkenborg to Return for Jeff Fowler's 'Sonic the Hedgehog 3'". Film Music Reporter. January 31, 2024. Archived from the original on January 31, 2024. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
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- ^ Cripe, Michael (February 7, 2024). "Sonic 3 Will Feature Sonic Adventure 2's Beloved Song 'Live and Learn,' Band Confirms". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on April 26, 2024. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
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External links
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