Dr. Robotnik is one of the most iconic villains in video games, a megalomaniac scientist with an IQ of 300 and plans for world domination. He is a source of fear for forest critters everywhere. Deadline now reports that an actor has been found to play the character for the Sonic the Hedgehog movie – Jim Carrey.
Sonic the Hedgehog is one of the popular video game franchises. Created by Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, and Hirokazu Yashuhara, Sonic the Hedgehog is Sega’s mascot and he has appeared in numerous video games, TV shows, comic books and an anime OVA. And Robotnik has been the villain in all these various media.
Robotnik, or Dr. Eggman in most modern incantations, has been interpreted in a multitude of ways. In Sonic SatAM (arguably the best interpretation of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise) Robotnik was the epitome of evil, who has achieved world domination and enjoys turning animals into robots, whilst other versions have made him out to be a buffoonish character. However, all versions of Robotnik have similar physical characteristics: his huge figure and big ginger mustache.
Jim Carrey is a larger-than-life comedian and he would have no problem playing Robotnik as a self-centered, pompous narcissist. Nor would it be the first time Carrey has played a villain, he has played The Riddler and Dr. Seuss’ Grinch. However, in recent years Carrey has been slowing down his most output of work and his most recent film was a dark crime-thriller, Dark Crimes and he is currently set to star in the comedy-drama series Kidding for Showtime. This seems more like an attempt for Carrey to get back into the limelight and star in big a family-friendly picture. Carrey also has the challenge to match Jim Cummings and Mike Pollack’s versions of the character.
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The Sonic the Hedgehog has been in development since 2014 and is being produced and released by Paramount after picking up the rights from Sony. Original Film, the production company behind the Fast and Furious franchise, is also producing the film.
I grew up on the Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis (Mega Drive) games and the cartoon shows from’90s and I am not hopeful for this film. The film has been given Jeff Fowler, making his directional debut and being written by Patrick Casey, Josh Miller and Oren Uziel whose credits leave a lot to be desired. The only signs of promise are Uziel wrote 22 Jump Street and Junkie XL has been hired to write the music.
The other issue affecting the film is it’s going to be a CGI/live-action hybrid. For every Paddington, there is a Smurfs, Hop and Peter Rabbit to counteract it. The Sonic the Hedgehog movie seems unlikely to break the video game movie curse.
The Sonic the Hedgehog movie is scheduled for a November 15, 2019, release date in the USA and November 28 in the UK and Australia.
