‘Deadpool’ Director Shifts to Sony’s ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ Movie (Exclusive)

Just over a week after stepping away from Deadpool, director Tim Miller has set his sights on a new gig: developing an adaptation of Sonic the Hedgehog for Sony Pictures.

Miller and his longtime Blur Studio collaborator Jeff Fowler have been tapped to work on the project, on which Fowler would make his feature directorial debut.

The duo are working with Neal H. Moritz (the Fast and Furious franchise), who is producing the adaptation. Miller will act as an executive producer on it.

Sonic the Hedgehog centers on Sonic and his friends, such as Tails and Knuckles, who run around collecting items and points as they attempt to foil the global domination plans of Doctor Eggman Robotnik. The game was first released by Sega in 1991, with the character becoming one of the world’s biggest gaming icons. More than 350 million copies, including both packaged and digital games, have been sold on various platforms.

The plan is to make a hybrid CG-animated/live-action family film. Patrick Casey and Josh Miller, who created Golan the Insatiable, are writing the script. 

Miller and Fowler were nominated for a best animated short Oscar in 2005 for their farm animal-centric Gopher Broke (Fowler wrote and directed, Miller executive produced). The two also have been developing, with David Fincher, an animated adaptation of cult comic The Goon.

Said Miller of his cohort: “Jeff is an incredible director with strong story instincts. The world of Sonic presents the perfect opportunity for him to leverage his experience in animation to bring new dimension to this iconic character.”

Sony Pictures and Marza Animation Planet, a CG animation film production company of the SEGA SAMMY Group, will be the production titles behind the movie.

Joining Moritz as producers are Marza’s Takeshi Ito and Mie Onishi. Joining Miller as executive producer is Toby Ascher. Dmitri Johnson and Dan Jevons of DJ2 Entertainment will serve as co-producers.

Andrea Giannetti will oversee for Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Miller co-founded Blur, which has grown into an in-demand studio, producing animation and opening credits, among other work. He made his feature debut and became a hot commodity with Deadpool, the surprise Ryan Reynolds hit that grossed $782 million worldwide. His involvement with the sequel was derailed just over a week ago when he left the project over creative differences.

Miller is repped by WME, Anonymous Content and Bloom Hergott. Casey and Josh Miller are repped by APA, Gotham Group and Nelson Davis.

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