What took them so long? Sonic the Hedgehog, veteran of countless video games, an animated series (with another on the way), and a long-running comic book series from Archie Comics is coming to the big screen in 2018.
The future “yet another disappointing video game adaptation” was revealed in an interview with The World Folio. Satomi revealed that the film is being worked on by Sony Pictures, and that it will be a “live-action and animation hybrid”. So perhaps something like G-Force.
“Sega Sammy Group is currently planning with Sony Pictures to create a live-action and animation hybrid Sonic The Hedgehog movie scheduled for release in 2018,” he said, speaking to The World Folio.
“Like with this CG animation production, we would like to expand our business into other entertainment areas beyond what we are currently involved. ”
There were plans for a Sonic the Hedgehog movie back in the mid-1990s with Richard Jeffries (Species) penning a script for MGM. The film eventually fell through due to the rushed release of the Sega Saturn and the failure to launch Sonic X-treme.
Sega is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its blue speedster this year and, as part of this, is expected to make a number of announcements over the coming months.
On February 9, it posted an image on Twitter that sparked speculation a new game was in development.
The key lies with @madeon. Good luck. pic.twitter.com/iwpkUhXGp9
— Sonic the Hedgehog (@sonic_hedgehog) February 9, 2016
On January 5, Sega released a new logo for Sonic. Crush 40 lead singer Johnny Gioeli also hinted that he was involved with the development of the new game in a Facebook post which was later removed.
“We are planning a few performances for 2016 to commemorate the anniversary of Sonic,” it read. “We might participate in writing new songs for the anniversary game… stay tuned.”
Sega has not officially confirmed any plans to release a new anniversary game. The next Sonic game planned for release is Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice for 3DS.
