Sega's "Sonic the Hedgehog" movie will race into theaters in 2018.

That release window, mentioned by Sega CEO Hajime Satomi in a new interview with The Worldfolio, is the first update on the Sony Pictures feature since the live-action/animated film was announced in June 2014.

"Sega Sammy Group is currently planning with Sony Pictures to create a live-action and animation hybrid 'Sonic the Hedgehog' movie scheduled for release in 2018," Satomi said. "Like with this CG animation production, we would like to expand our business into other entertainment areas beyond what we are currently involved."

While that 2018 date is the only new information, the phrase "live-action and animation hybrid" seems to have drawn a lot of attention this morning, even though we've known the approach for a while now.

Neal Moritz ("The Fast and the Furious," "21 Jump Street") is producing "Sonic," which, the last time we heard, was being written by Evan Susser and Van Robichaux.