Sonic The Hedgehog 3 Is About To Start Filming - Without Its Actors

For years, most of us knew Sonic from his incredibly successful gaming franchise, so when it was announced the comedy adventure ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ movie was on the way in June 2014, plenty of fans couldn’t wait to see what was on the way. News that Jim Carrey was in the cast only made it even better.

Thankfully, the film was a huge success, even though we had to wait until 2020 to finally see it in action. Two years later, and ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2’ was here, and now we’re on the edge of our seats for the third installment in the franchise.  The problem? ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’ is about to start filming - without its actors.

Several films have been affected by the ongoing strikes

The world of Hollywood has truly been shaken to its core, thanks to the ongoing strikes by the Screen Actors Guild - SAG-AFTRA - and the Writers Union - WGA. For weeks, there have been talks about all the TV shows and movies that will be paused as a result of the strikes until a deal can be met, with several productions now moving their release dates and networks wondering what they will do when they run out of new content. Still, it seems one movie is still steaming ahead, as ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’ is about to start filming, just without its actors.

Actors are still required to bring Sonic the Hedgehog to life

Some movies have found a workaround when it comes to the strikes, with people filming scenes with actors who are a part of the UK union Equity who currently aren’t on strike. Of course, one of the reasons ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’ can film some aspects of the latest movie is because a lot of the scenes are CGI-heavy. The problem? The film still needs actors for the motion capture to bring those scenes to life. With the release date set for December 2024, if they don’t get filming soon, there’s a good chance it could be pushed even later.

Plate shots are all the movie can do for now

The industry is constantly looking at ways they can work on films until a deal is reached and actors return to work. For ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3,’ that means working on plate shots, which are basically background shots. These are ones that have no people and can be used in compositing and reference in post-production. Still, there might not be many of these scenes in the works, meaning there is only a limited amount the studio can do without its actors. While the release date is still over a year away, it’s yet to be seen if it will make it to the big screen on time.

‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’ is about to start filming, but without the actors, there is only so much the studio can do to bring the film to life. If things don’t change and reach a resolution soon, ‘Sonic’ could merely join the long list of delays that are set to shake Hollywood even more.