Whether or not you play video games, it’s no secret that movies and television shows based on video games are big business. The most lucrative of the videogame film adaptations has been Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog, with the first two films collectively banking over $750 million worldwide, according to Variety. The franchise also spawned the Paramount+ series, Knuckles, featuring the voice of Idris Elba, that came out earlier this year. Now Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is out in theaters and once again scoring big at the box office. Paramount has announced that a fourth Sonic film is also in the works, set to release in 2027.
While all this success may sound like a no-brainer due to the popularity of the videogame that’s been a fan-favorite since 1991, the fact that STH3 currently has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 85% proves that the latest film is a critical success as well.
Final Draft sat down with screenwriters Pat Casey and Josh Miller to find out how they keep Sonic, the popular whirling dervish of a hedgehog, going strong.
Casey and Miller go way back – to eighth grade, to be exact. The writing partners owe their friendship to being class clowns and general troublemakers in a suburb just outside Minneapolis.
“We met in detention,” Casey says with a laugh, adding. “And from there, we just started creating. Whether it was local cable shows or low-budget films, we kept pushing until we finally moved to L.A. to make it in the industry.”
After about a decade of working on projects the team says they’d rather not remember, their big break was on the animated Fox show, Golan the Insatiable. Producer Toby Ascher (who would become the producer for the Sonic movies) was a fan of Golan and invited Casey and Miller for a general meeting. During the meeting, Miller says it was one detail in Ascher’s office that sparked a prescient conversation. “We saw all this Sonic stuff on his wall and asked, ‘Is there a Sonic movie happening? Can we get in on this?’” he says.
Casey agrees, adding, “We’re Sega Genesis-era Sonic fans. We loved the original 2D games, especially Sonic 2. That’s where our passion for the character comes from.”
At the time, other writers were involved, but the story wasn’t right. Remembering how enthusiastic Casey and Miller were about the videogame, Ascher called a few months later.
“Ascher said, ‘We’re starting over – did you guys really have an idea of how to do a Sonic movie?’ And we were like, ‘Of course! Of course we do!’ Even though we didn’t really, but we knew we could come up with one,” says Miller. Things worked out and now they’re on their third Sonic film, which just goes to show it pays to be curious and ask questions in meetings.
Though similar in appearance to Sonic (Ben Schwartz), Shadow (Keanu Reeves), is a black-furred hedgehog with a more jaded nature who vows to seek revenge after the death of his best friend, Maria Robotnic (Alyla Browne). Casey and Miller wanted to be true to the popular antihero character and not discount Shadow’s darker aspects, but they still wanted to make the storyline family-friendly.
“Early on, we focused on how to tell Shadow’s story without making it feel like a repeat of the second movie,” says Casey, adding, “We didn’t want another character arc where a new creature starts off as Sonic’s enemy and ends up his best friend.” Shadow must ultimately prove himself a good guy but his path had to be different from Sonic.
“The story of Shadow and Maria—her loss and how it shaped Shadow—was key. We wanted to honor it while tying it to Sonic’s journey and the theme of family,” says Casey.
The team looked at the parallels between Sonic and Shadow and asked, “What if Sonic hadn’t found a loving family in Green Hills? Could he have turned out like Shadow?” says Miller.
Shadow becomes an archetypal shadow-figure for Sonic, and gave the writers lots of room to explore themes that wouldn’t work for Sonic.
“It fits Shadow’s personality that even though he and Sonic team up to save the day, he doesn’t end the movie as part of the found family. Shadow’s grumpy, stoic nature just wouldn’t work if he suddenly became a friendly neighbor adopted by Tom (James Marsden) and Maddie (Tika Sumpter). He’s always going to have that darker edge, and we wanted to stay true to that,” says Miller.
One of the main reasons to see any of the STH movies is the joy of watching Jim Carrey steal the show as mad scientist Dr. Robotnik. In this film, the writers gave him a family-related emotional arc by introducing his grandfather, Gerald Robotnik, who is also played by Carrey.
“We’ve always played up Robotnik’s isolation,” Miller explained. “But what happens when he suddenly finds a family member he respects? It was fun to explore that dynamic, especially since Gerald is manipulative in his own right. It’s a relationship that’s emotionally rich but also darkly comedic.”
Adding the elder Robotnik gave Carrey new comedic territory to explore and tied his storyline back to the theme of family and connection.
While the writers admit adding the two new characters made it challenging to keep the film under two hours (its runtime is 1:49), they got help with the pacing from director Jeff Fowler and editor Jim May. “We launched the movie out of a cannon with Shadow’s breakout [from prison] and tried to keep up that Sonic-speed momentum throughout,” says Miller.
Though STH3 is a mix of animated characters and live action, for Casey and Miller, the key to writing any movie boils down to the fundamentals of storytelling.
“It’s all about making characters and their emotional stakes resonate,” says Casey.
Miller adds, “For Sonic, it was about finding his humanity, making audiences care about this little blue guy who just wants a family.”
And their advice for aspiring writers? “Keep creating and stick with it. Our ‘overnight success’ took a decade, but the key is to keep learning and improving,” says Casey.
When we asked if the team could share anything about the upcoming STH4, Casey said they have to keep the details under wraps. “If we say anything, a team of assassins will break through the windows,” jokes Casey.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is currently playing in theaters.