'Sonic The Hedgehog 2' Is Speeding Into Production As Filming Begins Today
Paramount Pictures already announced that it had set the release date for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for April 2022 — giving the sequel to the hit video game adaptation a little more than a year to get the film done amid COVID-19 restrictions. And with filming officially starting this week, it looks like Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is going to...go fast.
Following star Tika Sumpter's reveal that the Sonic the Hedgehog sequel would begin filming this month, director Jeff Fowler took to Twitter to confirm that Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has officially begun production.
Lights, camera, hedgehog. Production on Sonic the Hedgehog 2 starts TODAY! #SonicMovie2 pic.twitter.com/UsIgtZqn3s
— Jeff Fowler (@fowltown) March 16, 2021
No casting announcements have officially been made, but it's likely that Ben Schwartz will be back as the voice of Sonic, alongside Jim Carrey as his scenery-chewing nemesis Dr. Robotnik. Based on the logo, the sequel is also clearly introducing Tails, the two-tailed fox who appears in the games and who teased in at the end of the first movie.
Returning alongside Fowler, who made his feature debut with the original hit film, are screenwriters Pat Casey and Josh Miller, with Neal H. Moritz, Toby Ascher and Toru Nakahara all returning to produce while Haijime Satomi, Haruki Satomi and Tim Miller will return to executive produce.
After troubled beginning, involving a much-maligned Sonic design that went viral, Sonic the Hedgehog went through a speedy redesign that earned the approval of fans of the SEGA video game character and fans worldwide. The well-reviewed film went on to gross over $306 million at the global box office on a $95 million production budget, becoming the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2020 and the highest-grossing video game film adaptation of all time in North America. It wasn't long before a Sonic sequel was announced in May 2020.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will hit theaters on April 8, 2022.