Sonic the Hedgehog 3 | |
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Directed by | Jeff Fowler |
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Based on | Sonic the Hedgehog by Sega[a] |
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Starring | |
Music by | Tom Holkenborg |
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Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
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Language | English |
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is an upcoming action adventure comedy film based on the video game series Sonic the Hedgehog published by Sega, and the sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022). It is directed by Jeff Fowler from a screenplay by Pat Casey, Josh Miller, and John Whittington, based on a story by Casey and Miller. James Marsden, Ben Schwartz, Tika Sumpter, Colleen O'Shaughnessey, Lee Majdoub, Idris Elba, and Jim Carrey reprise their roles from the previous installments, with Keanu Reeves joining the cast.
Plans for a third Sonic the Hedgehog film were announced in February 2022 during ViacomCBS's investor event before the release of the second film. 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 game Sonic Adventure 2 (2001).
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is scheduled to be theatrically released by Paramount Pictures in the United States on December 20, 2024.
Main article: List of Sonic the Hedgehog characters |
Additionally, Krysten Ritter, Sofia Pernas, Cristo Fernández, James Wolk, and Jorma Taccone were cast in undisclosed roles.[3]
On March 6, 2020, James Marsden confirmed that he had signed on for multiple sequels to the original film.[6] In February 2022, Sega Sammy Group and Paramount Pictures had been developing a third Sonic the Hedgehog film after Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022). The film was formally announced during ViacomCBS's investor event.[7] Jeff Fowler returned as director, and Neal H. Moritz, Toby Ascher, Toru Nakahara, and Hitoshi Okuno returned as producers.[8] Pat Casey, Josh Miller, and John Whittington returned to write the screenplay, with the former two also being credited for the story, while Paul Greenberg and Oren Uziel received off-screen additional literary material credit.[9] In addition, a spin-off television series for Paramount+, Knuckles, was developed simultaneously with the film.[7] The film will draw inspiration from the video game Sonic Adventure 2 (2001).[10]
In April 2022, Jim Carrey–who portrays Dr. Robotnik in the films–announced that he was considering retiring from acting.[11] 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.[12]
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.[13] Principal photography was originally scheduled to begin on August 31, 2023, in London, England,[14][15] but was delayed to September of that year.[16] 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.[17]
In February 2024, Carrey was officially confirmed to be reprising his role in the film,[8] along with Marsden, Ben Schwartz, Tika Sumpter, Colleen O'Shaughnessey, Idris Elba, Lee Majdoub, and Tom Butler.[3] Krysten Ritter, Alyla Browne, James Wolk, Sofia Pernas, Cristo Fernández, and Jorma Taccone were cast in undisclosed roles;[3] Taccone was previously hired as an episode director for the Knuckles series.[19] On February 16, Browne's role was revealed as Maria.[5] Schwartz began recording for the film by the week after.[20]
Marsden said that filming had been completed by March 14, 2024,[21] while Fowler officially revealed that the film had wrapped production on March 29.[22] On April 15, 2024, it was reported that Keanu Reeves had joined the cast as the voice of Shadow the Hedgehog.[4]
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.[23]
In December 2023, Crush 40 vocalist Johnny Gioeli said there had been talks of including the song "Live & Learn" from Sonic Adventure 2 (2001) in the film.[24] In January 2024, Tom Holkenborg, who also composed for the first two films, was announced to be returning for the film.[25] The following month, Gioeli confirmed "Live & Learn" would be included in the film.[26]
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will be released theatrically in the United States by Paramount Pictures on December 20, 2024.[27]