Sonic The Hedgehog Is Getting A Live-Action Movie

Sonic The Hedgehog, the gaming legend of 90s attitude, is making his live-action and animation hybrid movie debut in 2018. God help us.

Speaking to The Worldfolio, Hajime Satomi, CEO and President of Sega Sammy Goldings Inc confirmed it's existence. "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 commented.

So why are they even thinking about launching a movie about a rapidly aging mascot? Turns out Sega still has a strong platform on its licensing, games development, and wider entertainment investments. The brand still has some life, so it's best to keep it updated. And if it's not going to happen through games (let's be honest, the quality hasn't been great recently), it will happen through other mediums.

A live action movie though? I would have been excited in 1996, but now I'm not too chuffed about it.

"The Sega brand first became famous as an arcade machine and then with the home video game consoles. The Sonic character was largely popular with those machines and consoles. Unfortunately, we eventually withdrew from the home video game console business," Satomi added. "However, our name and brand is still out there because of the famous characters from people's childhood. We would like to change, adjust or shift our product, brand and business with the current era to be a leader again in the future. Going forward, Sega Sammy Group's key word and main focus is and remains entertainment."

Way back when a movie was rumoured in 2014, it was set to be co-developed by Sony and Marze Animation Planet as a CGI flick. Neal Moritz, Takeshi Ito and Mie Onishi were set to produce it, and screenplay was going to be written by Evan Susser and Van Robichaux. No director was named, but all of this could change as the status of these people are unknown.

All we can do is guess what the movie will be about at the moment, but it's fair to assume Sonic, Tails and Knuckles will appear in some way shape or form. Whether there will be terrifying forms of beastiality like in the 2006 Xbox 360 game is a fact we don't know, and hope Sega's better than that.

Who would play Dr. Robotnik (Eggman)? My money's on John Goodman.