Today is May 28, 2020. Literally last night, May 27, 2020, I finally saw the Sonic the Hedgehog film. The video game franchise is very important to me, but given the track record of many video game movies (not to mention the redesign kerfuffle), I approached it with cautious optimism. And guess what? I really liked it! I thought it was fun, heartfelt, and featured killer performances from its talented cast. Now, the day after I finally see the movie, Paramount and Sega have announced (via Variety) that a Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has been greenlit and is in development. Was it because of me? Who can say? (Yes.)

Director Jeff Fowler, who made his feature debut with the first film, will be returning to the franchise to helm the sequel, alongside writers of the first film Pat Casey and Josh Miller. Returning producers include Neal H. Moritz, Toby Ascher, Toru Nakahara, Hajime Satomi, Haruki Satomi and Tim Miller.

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Image via Paramount Pictures

Since the film has just been announced and is still in the nascent stages of development (not to mention the coronavirus of it all), no news on the film's production start has broken. Nor has any announcement of returning cast members, including Ben Schwartz as Sonic, Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik, or James Marsden and Tika Sumpter as the human friends who become a second family to Sonic. Plot details are also unknown as of yet, but folks who have seen the film will know something fairly big is teased in a mid-credits scene, and that feels like a logical starting off point to me.

Our very own Liz Shannon Miller recently interviewed Schwartz (the full chat will be posted next week, be on the look out!), and here's what he said when asked about a Sonic sequel:

All I know is they said, "The second we get green-lit, we'll tell you." And I have not heard anything yet... And my hope is that we get the opportunity because it did so well, and especially domestically it did so well. So I hope that we get to do it because there's so much more stuff we can do in that world. And I know Jeff would just be incredible to direct another one. He would just do such a great job.

So, now that its green-lit: What are you waiting for, Paramount? Give my man Schwartz (and especially my man Carrey) a call! He did a phenomenal job voicing the blue blur in the first one, and he has nothing but kind things to say about your returning director. Why mess with success?

For more in the world of video game movies, here is my very specific ode to what I still consider to be the best video game movie ever made.