Summary
- Sonic the Hedgehog will start shooting its next movie in September, prioritizing scenes without actors due to the ongoing strike in Hollywood.
- Paddington in Peru will also continue filming without US actress Rachel Zegler, as most of its cast is not part of Hollywood unions.
- A spinoff series centered on the character Knuckles is in development, set to be released before the third Sonic movie in 2024, exclusively on Paramount+.
As the actors and writers from Hollywood continue to strike asking for better working conditions, new regulations on residual payments and in the use of AI, among other things, some productions have managed to continue and Sonic the Hedgehog will be one of them.
After two extremely successful installments and kind of inaugurating a new glorious era for video game adaptations, Sonic the Hedgehog is coming back with a third film and also a tv show as a spinoff, but plans on the expanding franchise seemed to be paused due to the current situation at Hollywood. However, the next film may be able to get some work done while waiting on the strike to be over.
According to a recent report published by Screen Daily, the next movie in the saga starring the famous blue animal will start shooting in September, prioritizing scenes with no actors since they're not allowed to join the production because of the strike. Paddington in Peru, which was also set to begin filming soon, will go on without US actress Rachel Zegler, since most of its cast is from the UK or other places nor related to Hollywood unions. Something similar to what happened with House of the Dragon.
The piece also included a statement from Spencer MacDonald, national secretary of London production and regional production division, who's extremely concerned of the impact the strikes across the ocean will have at their end:
“It’s a perfect storm. All the areas have had a downturn. Unscripted, commercials. There’s not much scope for moving around at the moment. Even the people who were regularly working and really good at their job are fumbling around trying to get some work. When these people have to start doing that, you know things aren’t great.”
The Future of Sonic the Hedgehog
As the studio tries to get everything they can be done before they need the actors to join on set in order to continue with the movie, Sonic the Hedgehog is set to hit theaters on December 2024, and considering the amount of work this kind of films need on post-production, it's not as far away as it seems.
But that's not the only project Sonic fans will be able to enjoy in the next few years. After the enormous success of the second film and the great reception Idris Elba's Knuckles had, a spinoff series centered on the popular Echidna is also in development, with the actor set to return to voice the character. He'll be joined by Adam Pally, Edi Patterson, Julian Barratt, Scott Mescudi, and Ellie Taylor, Rory McCann, Tika Sumpter, Cary Elwes, Stockard Channing, Christopher Lloyd, Paul Scheer, and Rob Huebel.
The Knuckles series is supposed to take place between the events of the second film and the third one, which means the show should be released before the upcoming movie, at some point during 2024, and will be exclusively streaming on Paramount+.