It’s actually happening! A Sonic the Hedgehog movie is actually (and finally) in the works. We have a sneaking suspicion that this one may have a little more budget behind it than the 1996 anime series that was released as a single film back in 1999. Even though that one was pretty great too!

Sonic The Hedgehog MovieSonic began as a video game in the early 90s

Sonic the Hedgehog originally began as a video game franchise in 1991. It was created by Yuji Naka and was developed and owned by the Sega Corporation. The character was adapted for a TV series, which ran on ABC between 1993 and 1995. The series received a cult following and since 1993 the character has been used in a comic book published by Archie Comics.

MORE: Paul Walker's dad convinced brother to sign up for Fast & Furious film

The script for the new film will be written by Evan Susser and Van Ronichaux. Susser created the TV series What’s Going on? with Mike Mitchell and has written two short films, Never Before Seen Phone Commercial and The Zombie Solution. Ronichaux was the writer of the video short Seth Rogen = Worst Person in the World, while he co-wrote Never Before Seen Phone Commerical and What’s Going On? with Mike Mitchell along with Susser, so this is far from the first time the duo will have worked together. They are currently working on the CBS series How to Grow Up and a feature film Fist Fight.

Sonic
The movie will be a live-animation/CGI hybrid

Neal Moritz of the Fast & Furious franchise and 21 Jump Street will be producing the project and Sony Pictures Entertainment and Marza Animation Planet will be joining up to deliver the feature. The film is set to be live-action combined with CG-animation and according the official press release will aim to capture “Sonic’s irreverent tone and spirit, reuniting him with some of the most revered an infamous characters of the franchise, including the evil Dr. Eggman.”

For those that don't remember the 1990’s game, Dr. Eggman would usually appear as the 'boss' at the end of a level, who you would have to defeat to carry on to the next. He was also Sonic’s nemesis in the television series.

MORE: Sonic the Hedgehog heading to the bigscreen with Sony

The statement continued: “There are limitless stories to tell with a character like Sonic the Hedgehog, and a built-in international fan base. Along with our wonderful creative partners at Marza, we’re looking to capture everything that generations of fans know and love about Sonic while also growing his audience wider than ever before.”

The CEO of Marza Animation Planet, Masanao Maedo, said “Sony pictures have had great success with hybrid animated and live-action features and we’re confident that this collaboration will bring a fresh take to Sonic, while still capturing everything that the fans love about him.”

As of yet the film doesn’t have a release date but we’ll keep you updated with any information that trickles through.