Sonic - Il Film
Sonic the Hedgehog[4] is a 2020 action-adventure comedy film adaptation based on Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog video game franchise by Sega. The film is directed by Jeff Fowler in his directorial debut and written by Patrick Casey and Josh Miller.[5][6] The film features Ben Schwartz as the voice of the film's titular hero, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik, alongside James Marsden and Tika Sumpter. The film features an alien hedgehog named Sonic, who can move at supersonic speeds, as he teams up with small-town sheriff Tom Wachowski as he attempts to escape a government scientist who will stop at nothing to catch him for world domination.
Sonic - Il film
Initially, Sony Pictures acquired the film rights to Sonic the Hedgehog from Sega in 2013, before officially giving the film green-light at a private joint Sega/Sony Pictures press conference announcing the film on 10 June 2014.[6] Fowler was hired to direct in 2016, but in October 2017, due to financing issues, Sony sold the rights to the the film to Paramount, who retained the film's production staff.[8] Most of the cast had signed on for the project by August in 2018. Filming shooting took place between July and October in 2018 in Vancouver, Ladysmith and elsewhere on Vancouver Island, Canada.
Sonic the Hedgehog was initially set to be released in November 2019; however, due to the negative reception of the movie's first trailer that debuted at the end of April 2019, it was delayed to 14 February 2020 so that Paramount could redesign the film's titular character.[2][9] The film premiered in early 2020 worldwide, with a later release in China and Korea due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It received mixed-to-positive reviews, with critics praising the performances (particularly those of Schwartz and Carrey), Sonic's design, and its faithfulness to the source material; however, they criticized its plot for its perceived lack of originality.[10][11] Nonetheless, the film set the record for the biggest opening weekend for a video game film in the United States and Canada.[12] It grossed over $319.7 million worldwide,[13] becoming the second highest-grossing film of 2020, and the currently highest-grossing video game film adaptation of all time in North America.[14] The film returned to theaters on 21 August 2020 for a limited time.[15] A sequel, titled Sonic the Hedgehog 2, was released on 8 April 2022 in the United States.[16]
Robotnik confronts Sonic and taunts him, but Sonic gathers up his spilled Rings and runs through the city as Robotnik gives chase in the Eggpod, as seen at the beginning of the film. Narrating again, Sonic notes how this has brought the story full circle and earnestly continues from where he left off, wanting to know what happens next just as much as the audience. As Robotnik continues his pursuit, Sonic is shocked by his ability to keep up with him, as no one has ever done that before. Sonic opens a portal to Paris, France, with him and Robotnik disrupting a mime act being performed for a young girl as they rush past. His next Ring portal brings him and the doctor to China, where the latter chases Sonic along the Great Wall of China. Next, Sonic opens a portal to Egypt, where Robotnik destroys many centuries-old monuments in his zeal to catch Sonic. Sonic uses his speed to create a sand whirlwind that temporarily disrupts Robotnik's visual contact, but Robotnik sees Sonic running up the side of one of the Great Pyramids and follows him to the top, firing a blast just as Sonic manages to open another portal Ring.
The first known development of a film adaptation based on the the video games from the Sonic the Hedgehog series arose in 1993, back when DiC Entertainment was producing the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog television series. Michealene Risley, who served as the newly appointed consumer products director who helped license the Sonic brand for Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, would negotiate with numerous producers from Hollywood. Meanwhile, Tom Kalinske, the CEO of Sega of America at the time, was wary of this idea, fearing it could damage the Sonic brand, and would cite the commercial and critical failures of the Super Mario Bros. and Street Fighter films. Regardless of Kalinske's concerns though, the Japanese branch of Sega was enthusiastic about the idea. As such, Sega struck a development deal with MGM and Trilogy Entertainment Group, with Pen Densham as executive producer, in August 1994.[38]
For the project, MGM and Sega hired Richard Jefferies, who was an associate of Risley from her days at Marvel Comics. Jefferies' job was to write a film treatment. Around that time, Sega was working on the development of Sonic X-treme, which would end up being canceled in late 1996, for the Sega Saturn. This prompted, Sega to ask Jefferies on behalf of Sega of America to include the Sega Saturn in the screenplay. Eventually, Jefferies' treatment produced the draft for Sonic the Hedgehog: Wonders of the World, which was submitted in May of 1995. While those among MGM and the Sega executives gave a positive response to the draft, the CEO of Sega, Shinobu Toyoda, suggested that Jefferies replaced Robotnik's role in the film with a meaner villain. Ultimately, MGM would canceled Sonic the Hedgehog: Wonders of the World following a failed attempt to get DreamWorks to revive it. According to suggestions from Jeffries, the project was scrapped because both Sega and MGM wanted a higher share of the profits. Densham on the other hand said it followed creative differences between Sega and Trilogy:[38]
In 2002, Ben Hurst, a screenwriter for the Sonic the Hedgehog television series, would approach and consult DIC Entertainment about the possibility of making an animated Sonic film which was to serve as a continuation of the Sonic the Hedgehog television series. This prompted DiC Entertainment to put Hurst in contact with a Sega executive interested in the idea. Eventually, Hurst came into contact with Ken Penders, the by-then head writer of the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, after the latter had been alerted to Hurst's plans. Despite Hurst telling Penders of his strategy and offering him involvement in his effort, Penders would inform Sega's Japanese division that Hurst was trying to co-opt the Sonic franchise. This would result in Sega dismiss Hurst and his proposal.[39] Not long after, in September 2003, Penders would present his own concept for a Sonic the Hedgehog film, titled Sonic Armageddon. This film, according to Penders would have served as an origin story and a reset for the series that would have resolved the plot threads that originated from the Sonic the Hedgehog television series and had continued into the comic series produced by Archie Comics. However, the project got scrapped in 2007 due to a corporate upheaval and the death of Robert Leffler, a Sega licensing manager who had been supporting Penders.[40]
Eventually, Sony Pictures Entertainment acquired the rights to distribute a film under the license of the Sonic the Hedgehog series in 2013.[41] On 3 December 2013, Sony Pictures Digital Domain Names, Inc., a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, filed a notice of registration for three inactive websites addressed as "SonicTheHedgehog-Movie.com", "SonicTheHedgehog-Movie.net" and "SonicTheHedgehogMovie.net". The registrations were reported by Sonic Stadium on 7 December, but neither Sony Pictures nor Sega confirmed the existence of a proposed film project at the time.[42]
On 20 March 2014, a film adaptation was first hinted when The Tracking Board released a rumor about the film, stating that it would receive a "Dark Knight treatment" and posted a writer shortlist of proposed writers involved.[43] On 10 June 2014, the official Sonic website was updated, with a locked section listing "TV and Movies."[44] Later that same day, at a private Sega/Sony Pictures press conference, The Hollywood Reporter reported the confirmation of a live-action animated film hybrid based on the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, which would be a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Marza Animation Planet, a Japan-based subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings which had produced CGI cutscenes for several Sonic games, and that Sony had green-lit the project.[6] It would be produced by Neal H. Moritz by his Original Film banner alongside Takeshi Ito, Mie Onishi and Toru Nakahara, and written by Evan Susser and Van Robichaux.[6]
It was later revealed on 21 June 2014 that Sonic the Hedgehog and its eventual successor films will be a separate continuity from the Sonic Boom continuity.[45] On 19 November 2014, Van Robichaux later stated that the film production team was "aiming for [a] PG-13 [rating]".[46]
In February 2016, Hajime Satomi, the CEO of Sega, went on record and stated that Sonic the Hedgehog was scheduled for a 2018 release.[47] On 31 October 2016, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Blur Studio's Tim Miller, who had left directing Deadpool 2 due to creative differences, and Jeff Fowler had been hired in 2016 to develop the film; Fowler would make his directorial debut, and Miller would serve as executive producer. Blur Studio previously produced cutscenes for the games Shadow the Hedgehog, for which Fowler directed cutscenes, and Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). Patrick Casey, Josh Miller and Oren Uziel were writing the new screenplay, while Casey and Miller wrote the story.[48][49][50]
It was later announced on 2 October 2017 that Paramount Pictures had acquired the film rights to Sonic the Hedgehog from Sony, replacing the latter as distributor. Sony had temporally shut down production before the switch after placing it into turnaround.[8] The announcement came after Neal Moritz's Original Film banner signed a first-look production deal with Paramount the prior month, ending their previous deal with Sony, and several months after Sony's film financing partner LStar Capital ended its deal with Sony due to a string of box office failures from the studio.[51][52] Despite the change of studios, the production staff working on the film remained employed and moved to Paramount as well.[8] 041b061a72