Paramount Pictures announced that Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will race back to theaters in less than two years.
According to Deadline, the video game film will premiere on April 8, 2022. The news comes about two months after reports surfaced that the sequel was in development. According to those reports, Jeff Fowler is expected to return to direct and Pat Casey and Josh Miller will once again write the script. No production start date or casting details were announced, though a tweet from Ben Schwartz -- who starred in the first film as Sonic himself -- confirms the April 2022 release date.
Releasing in February of this year, Sonic the Hedgehog follows the Blue Blur (voiced by Schwartz) as he fights to stop the evil Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) from taking over the world. The film teased a sequel in the mid-credits sequence, which features an appearance by Tails, one of Sonic's iconic sidekicks.
The movie opened to $70 million over the four-day President's Day weekend, earning the largest opening for a video game-based film. It ended up bringing in a total of $319.7 million worldwide off an $81-$95 million budget.
Directed by Jeff Fowler, Sonic the Hedgehog stars Ben Schwartz as Sonic and Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik, with James Marsden, Neal McDonald, Tika Sumpter, Adam Pally and Natasha Rothwell. The film is now available on Digital HD, Blu-ray and DVD.