Amid a slew of release date changes across Hollywood, Paramount has announced it will release Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in theaters on April 8, 2022.

The sequel will bring back the filmmaking team from the first film, as Jeff Fowler will return to direct from a script by Pat Casey and Josh Miller. Neal H. Moritz, Toby Ascher and Toru Nakahara will produce the second Sonic movie, while Hajime Satomi, Haruki Satomi and Tim Miller will serve as executive producers.

Ben Schwartz, James Marsden and Tika Sumpter are expected to reprise their roles, but what remains unclear at this stage is whether Jim Carrey will return as Dr. Robotnik. The end of Sonic the Hedgehog hints at a return, but it's unclear whether Carrey's original contract had sequel options, or whether the studio would have to renegotiate with the mustachioed actor.

Released in February earlier this year, which already feels like a lifetime ago, Sonic the Hedgehog grossed $306 million worldwide, making it the second-highest grossing film of the year behind Bad Boys for Life, and taking in more than Disney's family films Onward and The Call of the Wild combined.

The film followed the popular Sega video game character as he embraces his new home on Earth and befriends a local cop (Marsden), who helps him defend the planet from evil genius Dr. Robotnik, who is bent on world domination. Sonic scored the highest-grossing weekend ever for a movie based on a video game, which may explain why Paramount is so eager to return to this particular well. They want those gold coins too!

Fans of the lovable blue hedgehog can click here to watch a deleted scene from the first film, and you can also click here for our interview with Schwartz, who talks about why Carrey should be an Oscar contender for his villainous turn as Robotnik.