Highlights
- Despite the ongoing actors' strike, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will begin filming, focusing on CGI scenes without actors, to ensure it meets its 2024 release date.
- The addition of more CGI characters like Shadow allows for a greater number of scenes to be filmed without the need for actors, potentially addressing the critique of the previous film's focus on human characters.
- While the production crew can continue to film in London without physical picket lines, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will not be able to finish until the strike is over, as certain scenes still require actors.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will be able to start filming despite the current actors’ strike, but the film still won’t finish until the actors and studios reach a deal.
After finding success in the first two installments of the Sonic the Hedgehog movie franchise, Paramount announced plans to make a third film. Filming was set to start in London on August 31st after the Knuckles spin-off series was finished. Once the actors went on strike on July 14th, almost all film and TV productions were shut down until the strike was over, and most would have assumed that Sonic the Hedgehog 3 would also be unable to film.
Screen Daily reports that Sonic and his colorful friends will cross the picket line and continue filming despite not having actors. The Sonic the Hedgehog 3 production crew will film scenes without the actors starting in September until the strike is over with a fair deal for actors and writers. Although they are filming in London, Sonic 3 is still a SAG-AFTRA production, and almost all of the actors in the film are a part of that union and won’t be able to do any filming, even overseas. However, being in London still helps the production, as there will not be a physical picket line stopping production.
The scenes that they will film will be ones that don't have any actors in them and only CGI characters. In Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic had the most screen time with 49 minutes, and Tails had the second most with 30 minutes. The past films had plenty of scenes that were only CGI characters, and now that they have added Shadow the Hedgehog to the next movie, they can have more of those scenes. The production will probably have plenty of scenes to film without any actors.
This is also good news for fans, as this might prevent Sonic the Hedgehog 3 from missing its release date. Additionally, most people critiqued the second film for focusing too much on the human characters. If the film focuses more on Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, and any other characters they may include, it may be received better by audiences.
This is not great news for the strike. If studios can continue to work on projects amid the strike, it relieves their pressure and prolongs the strike further. However, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 production won’t be able to finish until the strike is over because they still need actors to film some scenes.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is scheduled to be released in theaters on December 20, 2024.
Source: Screen Daily