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The first footage from Paramount's Sonic the Hedgehog 3 debuted behind closed doors at their Cinemacon panel earlier today. So far, they haven't released it publicly, but its contents have been described by press who attended the event. The trailer shows Jim Carrey's Dr. Robotnik in his lab. He's gained weight from binging carbohydrates, meaning cinematic Robotnik will finally get to be fat. Someone is quoted as saying "we found him," presumably referring to Shadow. The trailer also shows Robotnik recruiting Shadow, Shadow facing off against Sonic, Tails and Knuckles, and Sonic and Shadow fighting in the New York City skyline. Shadow also gets a motorbike. As of this writing, I'm still a little unsure how it all fits together, as these details are taken from multiple sources. Hopefully Paramount will show the footage soon. The sourced for this info can be found here, here, here, and here. No casting for Shadow was revealed, who apparently didn't talk in the trailer. Original Post Content: View full story

The Knuckles TV series might just be round the corner, but Paramount has designs to leverage spinoff projects such as these to set up the Sonic movies to become 'Avengers-level' events. That's according to Sonic movie franchise and series producer Toby Ascher, who recently sat down with Paste Magazine to discuss the production of Knuckles and the aspirations he has in establishing a successful "Cinematic World of Sonic the Hedgehog." After revealing that the Knuckles show concept came about after the success of the Sonic 2 movie, Ascher added: Ascher also noted the excitement within the Paramount teams when they saw an opportunity to reference Sonic 3 & Knuckles' "Lock-on technology" by offering a standalone 'Knuckles' companion product to the upcoming mainline 'Sonic 3' movie, coming Winter 2024. "We also really, really liked the idea of going linearly through the games, and then in the third movie, being able to do a Sonic 3 and Knuckles super Easter egg," he said. The rest of the interview discusses Ascher's objective throughout Knuckles' production in making a smaller-scale TV production look and feel authentic alongside the major motion pictures ("We knew that if, all of a sudden, this looked like a rip off series or something that was really shoddily put together, not only will fans reject it, but it’ll damage what we’ve made"), and how the lean into "weird comedy" really benefits, thanks to the dynamic between Adam Pally and Idris Elba. You can read the rest of the interview right here. Original Post Content: View full story

A copy of an original 1994 Sonic the Hedgehog movie treatment is now available for fans to digest, after its initial live reading earlier this month. And it's absolutely worthy of an afternoon read, as it's an absolute doozy of a story. Originally conceived by Pen Densham and Richard B. Lewis for production company Trilogy Entertainment on 11 November 1994, the treatment - titled simply, 'Sonic: The Movie' - contains a rather gritty story that sees a young boy called... Jimmy... Hedgeman... journey around the world to uncover the mysteries surrounding the work of his estranged father (a scientist, naturally) and the motives of a deranged Doctor Paul Elleson who has captured him. It's something to do with blood, obviously. In the summary page, the core premise is laid out: it’s an origin story where a teenage boy “transforms” into the “Sonic character.” This was apparently discussed by the writers over multiple story sessions. The transformation would utilize live action, animatronics/puppetry, and state of the art” CGI. The film’s tone is described as “darker and edgier than the game,” with a strong sense of real jeopardy. Batman and Jurassic Park are used as comparisons here. This edginess is something that becomes quite apparent in the script itself. And, delightfully, there are a number of 'redline' comments scribbled in the margins of the document (possibly from studio execs who were pitched this treatment and had more questions than answers). "Not funny." While you can read the whole thing here, we've gone ahead and included some highlights from it below: The opening scene features a man being chased down and killed by a bunch of hideous, snake-like mutants. The main character is a 17-year-old kid called Jimmy Hedgeman. Oh man. Jimmy, as you'd expect, has a major attitude with authority figures and 'likes to do everything fast'. It was the 90s, baby. Jimmy wears a bomber jacket that says, "SONIC or bust" that used to belong to his grandpa. That'll be useful knowledge later. There's underage drinking. The dynamic between Jimmy and his dad is your cliche'd "two strong-headed family characters unwilling to meet in the middle" There is a goon called 'FACE', and he has a severe skin condition. Guess where that skin condition is. Jimmy gets subjected to a serum that eventually transforms him into the 'Sonic character'. After his father gets captured in a lab, he runs to the police and starts speaking gibberish at "about 150mph", leaving the cop to reply, to a 17-year-old, "what are ya, drunk?" After hassling a Spanish tutor he hasn't seen in months, Jimmy learns - somehow - that the answers he seeks regarding the men who captured his dad can be found in an island within South America. So naturally, he gets on a plane. "Elleson was born with no fingers." They used to call him 'Claws'. The journey to South America all goes a bit 'Home Alone meets Indiana Jones'. Then he starts eating worms, before it goes a bit 'Teenage Werewolf'. Elleson/Robotnik subjects Jimmy's dad to some hologram-fuelled monologue about the "seven deadly sins to show imperfect a world we live in". It's all about manipulating DNA, baby. This is probably the 'Jurassic Park' influence mentioned in the summary. One of the redline margin notes does not seem convinced about the description of the 'Knuckles' character, as it reads; "Why can't he be like Knuckles?" There is a place in Elleson's secret volcano lab titled, "The Zoo of New Creatures". Jimmy falls in with a tribe of 'early stage' mutant kids, one of which (Amanda) begs for his life to be spared if he can pass 'The Test'. The Test being, that he has to fight Knuckles and win(?). Elleson takes an interest in Jimmy ('Sonic') after Knuckles is captured and sells him out to spare his own life. Apparently, "he lets it slip that Sonic can go between being human and mutant. Elleson is excited by this information". Jimmy and Amanda lead a rescue team to fight back against Elleson's creatures on the island and to save Knuckles and his father from capture. Some stuff happens and Elleson betrays Knuckles (surprise, surprise). Jimmy is captured, Elleson does some DNA tests on him, and plans to send the DNA into the world's water supply using the volcanic energy of his secret base(?). But after turning into a massive mutant himself and having a showdown with Jimmy, Elleson is foiled and the whole volcano erupts on top of him. "You thought it was tough raising an ordinary teenager, you ain't seen nothing yet!" ~ FIN. You can read the whole delightful thing on Sonic Retro right here. Let us know your thoughts on what this movie could have been in the comments below! Sonic News Tips Credit: Slashy Original Post Content: I found this on the Lost Media Wiki. This is a pitch for a big budget Sonic film 26 years before we finally got one. This is NOT the Sonic: Wonders of the World pitch that was made later. View full story

Concept artwork for the 2020 Sonic the Hedgehog movie has been newly discovered, featuring costume designs and styles of the main characters in the film - including several outfits for Jim Carrey's Dr. Robotnik. The below images are courtesy of veteran costume designer Debra McGuire, who has an impressive credits list that not only covers both Sonic movies but also a number of other high-profile movie and TV projects, including Judd Apatow classics 'Knocked Up' and 'The 40 Year Old Virgin' and the legendary 'Freaks and Geeks'. McGuire's professional website also feature costume ideas for James Marden's Tom Wachowski and Tika Sumpter's Maddie (Wachowski), and for Carrey's Robotnik there's a range of different looks - from the iconic red suit, to the jacket that would eventually be worn in his debut scene, and even his dishevelled shaved appearance on the Mushroom Planet. Take a look: Perhaps the concept art we love the most from this website is this last one, which is intended to offer an idea of how the above costumes may look on set... but it's very difficult to pull away from the hypnotic black hole that is Sonic's face. Seeing Eggman hide behind a tree, cartoon villain style, is also incredibly entertaining. Let us know what you think of these concepts in the comments section below! Via 'KellytoyDK' Sonic News Tips Credit: DaBigJ Original Post Content: Don't ask me how or why this was found but the user above found it from someone's website alongside some Eggman concept art too... Not much else to say except Sonic is my sleep paralysis demon now. View full story

So, it rarely happens that there are plot twists that happens in any of the stories from the Sonic franchise, but what were some plot twists that happened in the franchise that surprised you the most? They can be from any part of the franchise, like the games, the movies, the comics and the cartoons. One of the plot twists that took me by surprise was in Archie Sonic when it was revealed that Espio was kind of working for the Iron Queen in the Iron Dominion arc, although he was forced into it.

It's easy to take Sonic's film career for granted these days, what with the hugely successful Paramount franchise still going strong. But Sonic's trip to the big screen was a long and rocky one, with multiple attempts that never saw the light of day. We already know about the Sonic the Hedgehog: Wonders of the World treatment from 1995, which was part of the initial 1994-95 effort to get a Sonic movie made at MGM and Trilogy Entertainment. Now, it seems, we have another, earlier one: a 32 page treatment from November 1994 written by Pen Densham and Richard B. Lewis. The treatment was obtained by the The Game Show Game, and SEGAbits has announced on Twitter that they will be reading through the treatment alongside Sonic Retro and Cybershell on The Game Show Game's Twitch channel at 7:45 PM CST. The treatment will be posted on Sonic Retro after the Twitch stream if you'd rather read it yourself. Aside from a cover page, SEGAbits has revealed that the treatment has underage drinking, mutated children, and Knuckles. Though in the case of the, they really "@#$%ed up his portrayal." You can check out the cover page below: Original Post Content: View full story

This may be another subject matter than the ones I usually cover here, but don't worry; a game review of The Legend of Zelda: The Mininsh Cap is coming soon! I just have to beat it first. NOTE: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS. IF YOU WANT A SPOILER-FREE SUGGESTION, WATCH ONLY SELECT BITS OF IT. ONLY WATCH THE SEGMENTS WITH DARK AND SKIP THE OTHERS. AT A CLEAR END OF DARK, LEAVE THE MOVIE. UNHIDE SPOILERS FOR THE REVIEW.

The Sonic 3 movie might be a while off yet, but when it releases in late 2024 you can count on a slew of merchandise to arrive with it, as Jakks Pacific has announced today a global partnership with SEGA America to design a range of tie-in goods. SEGA and Jakks' multi-year partnership will see the two companies "design, develop and manufacture a range of products including action figures, plush, playsets, costumes and costume accessories, all set to hit the market late 2024," according to a new press release. No further details on what specific products will be manufactured, but there is mention of the costume company 'Disguise' (which is owned by Jakks Pacific), which will assumedly be the source of the character outfits mentioned above. Here are some quotes where everyone is very excited about the partnership. First, Jakks' VP of Marketing, Kevin Feely: And here's Associate Director of Licensing at SOA, Mike Cisneros: As soon as we hear more about what these cool new products will be, we'll be first to report on them with you! Full press release can be found below, in the meantime. Original Post Content: View full story

Although the SAG-AFTRA is still on strike (though an end may be in sight), Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has begun filming nonetheless, albeit with CG characters. If this latest round of photos are any indication, it looks like someone in this movie will be going to Japan. The photos, taken and posted by Twitter user Tim Wright, show GUN vehicles and Japanese police cars on the streets of Canary Wharf, an area in East London. Given that they can't shoot any scenes involving live actors at the moment, this would either be associated with a scene involving CG characters, or something else like an establishing shot. Given the involvement of GUN, the police, and the cool looking buildings, I'd guess it might be where Sonic and friends meet Shadow. But we'll see. Check out the photos below: Original Post Content: View full story

This post has been inspired by this Sonic Dissected video where Roger makes a point how the spinoffs try to be a diet version of the games. This probably might have been discussed before but it seems as though that some spinoffs try to more like the games despite taking place in alternate universes. Do not get me wrong, I enjoy the games but I do not expect every piece of Sonic media to exactly like the games. It makes me wonder though, should the various Sonic Spinoffs be more like the games themselves? Or should they follow the spirit of the games than the letter?

Sonic's a popular, character-driven franchise, and popular character-driven franchises tend to do well in video-games, comics, books, TV shows and films. Sonic the Hedgehog has had 2 major, somehow actual, successful theatrical releases as well as a direct to video anime movie. A lot of digital ink has been spilled on how we'd change certain aspects of them, but one thing I'd like the Sonic Stadium forums to do today is to start from scratch. How would YOU make a Sonic movie? Assuming money isn't an issue, assuming SEGA and whichever production and publishing companies have already given you the go-ahead to come up with an idea and assuming you had unlimited connections, how would you do it? Who would appear in the movie, what would the plot be, would it be just like the games, an adaptation of an existing subset of the franchise, or something completely original? This is the place to share ideas, give feedback and just have a fun discussion about the merits of Sonic as a film overall! --- For me, I'd want to re-imagine the origin mythos of the main cast from the Modern branch of the series. In this make-believe and non-canon reality I just came up with, I'm going to presume the Modern series is completely separate from Classic, and that the original trilogy + CD is only applicable to the Classic branch. That means before Sonic Adventure, we don't know how Sonic and Tails met beyond a vague flashback, how Knuckles and Amy got roped into things, how long Sonic and Eggman have been fighting each other, Metal Sonic's creation, how much parallel there is between this timeline and the Classic one, etc. Basically, an origin story for Modern Sonic assuming Classic and Modern are truly separate realities. Medium: more detailed but game-accurate CG animation. Imagine the Sonic characters in the actual Sonic movie if their designs were closer to the games. No live action, so that means Eggman would also be CG. Setting: Earth, as interpreted in Sonic Unleashed, but mainly focused on what we're going to call the "Islands of Mobius," spanning South, Westside and Angel Islands as well as some new ones? Theme: Friendship. In this canon, Sonic is a loner. He doesn't want to be slowed down by anyone: his self-driven purpose is to explore the world and do whatever he likes. He's not a particularly altruistic person, but for some reason he finds himself unable to resist helping people in trouble and immediately running away before they have a chance to even thank him. This changes through a series of circumstances that has him befriending some life-long allies that shape him into the character we know and love today. Plot: The major story beats I'd incorporate would be establishing Sonic and Eggman's conflict as a long-standing one, cover how Sonic, Amy, Knuckles and Tails meet in greater detail, the "Eggman tricks Knuckles into fighting Sonic" story and end with the takedown of the Death Egg. Starting off with a short prologue with a montage of the events of the first Sonic game (with a Modern era flair) showing how Sonic and Eggman are enemies, Sonic's abilities and personality. At the end of the montage, Sonic has reached Eggman's base and sees that he has 7 multicolored gems plugged into a machine with schematics of a giant egg-shaped spaceship on a monitor: the Death Egg. Without thinking, Sonic dashes into it and ends up causing the emeralds to scatter across the ocean and lose their power, landing on several islands. A furious Eggman then dispatches his fancy E-Robo series badniks to pursue the emeralds to re-energize them while he continues work on the Death Egg, as well as another secret project. This sets up the main inciting incident: collect and revive the Chaos Emeralds. As Sonic hops from island to island on his biplane, the Tornado, he meets Tails, a lonely fox who had gotten to one of the Emeralds first and has already done research and experiments on it. When Sonic learns that Tails is bullied often for his two tails and nerdy interests, he reluctantly agrees to let him tag along. On another island, they meet Amy, a hedgehog who was under attack by one of the E-Robo badniks and immediately takes a liking to Sonic after he rescues her. While Amy doesn't get the opportunity to tag along, she finds various ways of trailing after Sonic and Tails, getting herself in and out of jams and will end up helping the main duo often unbeknownst to them. The final island is a floating island: Angel Island, where Eggman has already "warned" the island's guardian, Knuckles, of Sonic's arrival. They fight until Amy, who had been unseen until this point, breaks up the fight and calms everyone down. Eggman uses the tension to steal the Chaos Emeralds they've collected and retreats to his now functional Death Egg. This would be the lowest point in the film where "all is lost." Knuckles then reveals that there's a special 8th Emerald called the "Master Emerald" that can nullify the Chaos Emeralds, but removing it from it's spot for too long would cause his island to fall to the surface, crashing into the ocean and causing mass chaos; they all have to be quick in stopping Eggman. After they arrive on the Death Egg with Master Emerald in tow, Eggman unleashes his secret weapon: Metal Sonic, who initially gets the better of the 4 heroes, kidnaps Amy as bait for Sonic and the two have a race to the core of the Death Egg. Meanwhile, Tails and Knuckles are left to find their own way to the core. At the core, we see the null Emeralds being charged in one of Eggman's machines, to no effect. Here we have the final showdown between Sonic and Metal and Eggman's defacto giant Death Egg Robot, and Eggman reveals that he has captured his friends. If Sonic deals the final blow against Metal and the Death Egg, he'll send his friends into the cold vacuum of space. The theme of Sonic learning about friendship swells here and he surrenders, and is himself instead sent into space: except Eggman forgot that the Chaos Emeralds were with him. Sonic's sacrifice for his friends (positive feelings) is what gets the Chaos Emeralds to work again and Sonic transforms into Super Sonic to take on a Master Emerald energized Super Metal Sonic. Sonic narrowly defeats them and activates a form of Chaos Control that sends everyone back to Earth and uses his remaining energy to destroy the Death Egg with Eggman's fate unknown. The film ends with Sonic returning to Angel Island and reunites with his friends for a celebration, scatters the Emeralds and he, Amy and Tails fly off on the Tornado. Post credits: Eggman and Metal crash into one of the ruined temples on Angel Island where he uncovers a stone tablet with an icon of Knuckles' tribe, as well as the Master Emerald... with a legendary creature hidden within... Other fun things throughout the movie: You could have Big the Cat and Froggy making cameos in the background, have some of the islands resemble locations from other games like Knuckles Chaotix or Sonic 3D Blast, toss in references to the usual fun stuff like chili dogs, often quoted lines, other SEGA games and more, so long as it doesn't distract from the plot. It's about Sonic learning to trust people and how his acts of heroism inspire his friends to do great things themselves. --- And that's my contribution! I hope that inspires some of y'all to come up with your own ideas! Have fun!

Sonic 2 had its first early access screenings in the US yesterday, but today, the movie is officially opening in theaters across the country! And now that people in the US can watch the movie, you can expect us over at Sonic Stadium to step up our coverage of the movie with further articles and a special episode of the Sonic Talk podcast, airing on our Twitch at 3PM Wednesday. You can expect any articles with spoilers to be marked. Check out our review here. You can check out our Twitch channel here. You can find my a my spoiler-filled stream, where I play games while I give my hot takes on the movie, there! View full story