Paramount Pictures is developing a Sonic the Hedgehog movie from director Jeff Fowler. The project, based on the Sega video game franchise, had been in the works at Sony, but the studio let their film rights lapse.
Neal H. Moritz, who recently signed an upcoming first look deal with Paramount, is producing under his Original Film banner. Deadpool director Tim Miller will serve as executive producer, along with Toby Ascher. Dmitri Johnson and Dan Jevons will be the co-producers.
Miller boarded the project last year. Sega launched the Sonic game in 1991 and has sold more than 360 million copies to date, including both packaged and digital games on consoles, tablets, and mobile. The game features a hedgehog named Sonic on a quest to defeat Doctor Robotnik, a scientist who has imprisoned animals in robots and stolen magical Chaos Emeralds. The game was enormously successful and established the Sega Genesis console as a major player.
The film, which will be a combination of live-action and CGI animation, will be the first time Sonic has ever been adapted for the big screen. Fowler is a longtime collaborator with Miller at the latter’s production studio, Blur Studio. He previously wrote and directed the Oscar-nominated animated short Gopher Broke, which Miller executive produced.
