Paramount Pictures is giving another change of coming into fruition to the live action movie of ‘Sonic the Hedgehog.’ The project was first taken four years ago by Sony, but it never really came through.

According to reports, the production team will remain, meaning that ‘Deadpool’ director, Tim Miller, will take on the production of the movie while he won’t direct it.

Getting a second wind with Paramount

After starting the movie adaptation of ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ four years ago, Sony Entertainment has decided to drop the project. Luckily, Paramount Pictures picked up the rights for the movie, giving the Blue Blur’s first big screen appearance another chance for fruition.

The studio will retain former ‘Deadpool’ director Tim Miller to help put the film together.

Miller, however, won’t be helming the ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ live-action flick. He will instead serve as executive producer while Jeff Fowler will make his directorial debut.

Supporting Miller and Fowler in this project is Neal H. Moritz, who is also executive producer. Toby Ascher, Dmitri Johnson, and Dan Jevons are attached to the film production as well.

The movie won’t be purely live-action as some elements will have CGI animation. It will be the first live-action treatment for the popular video game.

“Jeff is an incredible director with strong story instincts,” Miller said when the project first came to light.

“The world of Sonic presents the perfect opportunity for Jeff to leverage his experience in animation. To bring a new dimension to this iconic character.”

Sony The Hedgehog

Sega launched the character of Sonic the Hedgehog in 1991. In its early versions as a 16-bit video game, Sonic ran around to collect rings and evade the villain, Dr. Edman, as with any typical arcade game.

The franchise, however, developed more games that offered backstories to the characters, thus creating a mythology to Sonic the Hedgehog.

Sega then tied up with Sony Pictures Entertainment in 2014 for the film development in its bid to expand its entertainment brand.

Sony passed the rights to Paramount three years later. The latter retained most of the people involved in the making of the movie.

Miller and company haven’t divulged any clue to the storyline but more details, including cast announcements, are expected to follow.

‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ live-action film has a 2019 theater release date.

A rough start, but finally happening

Last October it was announced that ‘Deadpool’ director Tim Miller was developing a live-action movie based on the iconic SEGA video game character Sonic the Hedgehog.

The news broke just over a week after stepping away from ‘Deadpool‘ due to creative differences.

At the time it was announced that Miller and his longtime Blur Studio collaborator Jeff Fowler have been tapped to work on the project, on which Fowler would make his feature directorial debut.

Miller and Fowler were nominated for a best animated short Oscar in 2005 for their farm animal-centric ‘Gopher Broke’. It was written and directed by Fowler and that saw Miller as executive producer. The two also have been developing, with David Fincher, an animated adaptation of cult comic ‘The Goon’.

If you’re not convinced yet of the possibilities of this creative team then remember that Miller had garnered praise for eclipsing ‘Deadpool’s infamous cinematic debut in ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ with a faithful adaptation that stuck to the character’s trademark comic book tropes.

As Sonic has revived his reputation by doing the same in Sonic Mania, Miller will certainly be looking to build on this common logic, reminding fans why they fell in love with the character in the first place.

Additionally, as Fowler has already showcased his ability to mix action with comedy in two hilarious shorts, there’s no doubt that he’ll be taking a similar approach to retain Sonic’s characteristic charm while also providing fans with a fast-paced adventure.

And more video games coming

Meanwhile, on the video game side of things, Sega is teaming up with Hooters Restaurants to promote Sonic the Hedgehog and the upcoming game ‘Sonic Forces’. Comic Book reported that the announcement was made during this year’s Tokyo Game Show, though details about the actual promotion have yet to be revealed. Coverage was also unclear, whether the promotion will be Japan-only, or will US-based Hooters participate as well.

Created and produced by Sega, Sonic the Hedgehog was made to compete with rival Nintendo’s mascot, Mario. Focusing on speed-based platforming, the game centers on the titular blue-colored hedgehog as he foils the plans of Dr. Eggman for world domination. The Chaos Emeralds were later on introduced in the series, colored gems that provide Sonic and other characters a power-up once collected.

After its release, Sonic the Hedgehog has become one of the best titles of Sega. Selling over 300 million different game copies, including mobile games. Sonic the Hedgehog has branched out into different mediums, including animated television shows and comic books.

The Sonic the Hedgehog comics has earned a Guinness World Record for the longest-running series based on a video game.

Source: Movie Pilot