Sonic Live Action Movie Thread (Read OP for topic rules) "Trailer 2 on Page 482)

[Failinhearts]

Yup, same goes for me. Rainmaker sure knows their games. Sonic would definitley fit in with the writing made for both movies (so far)

[Tani Coyote]

The Sly Cooper domain was registered only just recently if memory serves... so there's really no telling when exactly a confirmation would come. I get the feeling the Sonic film is definitely in talks since Sonic seems out of place among the other three confirmed and one speculative films.

 

Sony was downgraded to a "Junk" rating recently... if these films do well maybe it could help them recover.

 

I definitely hope Rainmaker and Blockade work on it - Blockade tries to make use of pre-existing assets when it makes films, cartoons, etc. So it wouldn't be too much of a shock to us...

 

Though their use of CGI style instead of the usual style makes me think they might adopt the Boom designs for any film...

[Zaysho]

Though their use of CGI style instead of the usual style makes me think they might adopt the Boom designs for any film...

It's also possible Sonic can go the TMNT route and have multiple different media, all in different styles (games, comics, TV, movie, etc.). I mean, Sonic did do that before anyway, so why not? I almost feel like the fandom is in a panic about "Sonic Boom" taking over everything when we literally don't know anything about it still (this coming from someone who has no expectations and very little interest in that show). Other than a rumor that was quickly debunked, we haven't heard anything since SEGA announced that show. I'd like to give SEGA some credit that they aren't going to completely alter the brand when it can survive just fine with multiple interpretations that are only connected by Sonic. Then again, SEGA can be kinda wacky sometimes so... who knows?

I like to think that if this movie is in the works, SEGA has plans for it being its own thing, and Sonic may get slightly restyled to fit that particular part of the brand, similar to how TMNT has (and has had) different interpretations across all the different media produced for it (just look at the different TMNT stuff that's out right now). But that's me.

[wolf4537]

I don't know what it is, but I really, really don't like where this is going.

THIS.

[Nepenthe]

From a strictly animation standpoint, the Sly Cooper movie doesn't really look all that hot to me. It's got that tv-movie "pose-to-pose" thing going on where characters look kind of stiff and there's not a whole lot of overlap going on on limbs and bodies in order to keep characters fleshy and alive. It's not bad, but if I had my choice of studios, I'd honestly give it to Sony Animation and above (sans Blue Sky Studios; they're annoying me.)

[no one]

From a strictly animation standpoint, the Sly Cooper movie doesn't really look all that hot to me. It's got that tv-movie "pose-to-pose" thing going on where characters look kind of stiff and there's not a whole lot of overlap going on on limbs and bodies in order to keep characters fleshy and alive. It's not bad, but if I had my choice of studios, I'd honestly give it to Sony Animation and above (sans Blue Sky Studios; they're annoying me.)

That. 

 

The R&C movie looks nice and clean cut but Sly really comes off as a somewhat mid-budget, straight to dvd flick. 

[Tani Coyote]

That's the price of deciding to scrap the existing models in favor of entirely new ones, I imagine.

 

With regards to the Sonic Boom thing: it's not that there's a "takeover," so much as a hunch that this movie will be connected to the cartoon. Cartoons almost always have a movie attached to them, and while this could be about the games, I wouldn't be surprised if it's about the cartoon instead: cartoons are a bigger demographic. SEGA wants to expand its audience to massive proportions, and I think they've about given up on doing that with games.

[Gatestormer]

Speaking of Marza, they have not done lots of CG cutscenes for Sonic lately, Lost World got only one. Leads me to believe that they are busy animating the movie (if the movie actually exists of course) but maybe they were just busy on that other CG movie for Japan they are releasing soon.

 

I would rule Marza out for a Sonic movie, they're much more dedicated to producing their own, original movies. They've got a new movie in pre-production called Robodog.

 

That being said, I would really expect that any CGI Sonic movie would be made to fit in with the pieces that Marza produce for the games. 

[TheRealVectorFan]

I never knew there is going to be a new Sonic movie! I hope it turns out well. I really liked the OVA and hope for this to be similar.

[Zaysho]

That's the price of deciding to scrap the existing models in favor of entirely new ones, I imagine.

 

With regards to the Sonic Boom thing: it's not that there's a "takeover," so much as a hunch that this movie will be connected to the cartoon. Cartoons almost always have a movie attached to them, and while this could be about the games, I wouldn't be surprised if it's about the cartoon instead: cartoons are a bigger demographic. SEGA wants to expand its audience to massive proportions, and I think they've about given up on doing that with games.

 

True, but I refer back to my TMNT example, in that the upcoming movie is in no way connected to Nickelodeon's current cartoon or IDW's comic book series, which are both completely separate entities as well. What's important is the brand, not some forced connection between their media. It's probably not a fair comparison, but I use it since TMNT has always managed to have success thanks in part to having something for every consumer in its admittedly broad demographic.

 

I'm not disagreeing with you that the cartoon will score a bigger demographic (it will), but I also feel that for the brand itself, the smart thing to do is to make each a separate entity under the umbrella of the Sonic franchise. "Sonic Boom" will be a success regardless of what people like me have to say about it, I can practically see it. However, I'm hesitant to think that the most logical approach is to use "Sonic Boom" as a base for any new media in the franchise, when it's clear Sonic can survive just fine with multiple versions out there that all offer something different.

[Failinhearts]

What kind of story should this movie have? I thought Unleashed has the best story in the franchise and the balance between serious and comical is great and would work really well for the film. A tone like Colors would be my second choice as it is most recent and fits well with other Sony movies like the Cloudy series and Hotel Transylvania.

On another note just in case if you are interested in Rainmaker and their past work to judge if they are good enough to animate Sonic by comparing: They did Escape From Planet Earth which sucked really bad and tons of Barbie films which......... You know......

[Salamander]

Unleashed would've made a pretty good movie - there's probably a video somewhere of all the cutscenes stitched together, and if there was more of a middle to the plot (which is normally accounted for by the gameplay), you'd be largely good to go.

[Tani Coyote]

I presume they would retell the story of Sonic 1, 2, and 3, in the same way the Sly Cooper and Ratchet films are retelling the first games of those franchises with possible elements from latter games. No idea if it'd be a Rainmaker/Blockade team effort again but... who knows.

 

Failing that, I imagine the film would add onto the cartoon in some way or another. A "between seasons" sort of thing.

[Marcello]

I think 3 would be the best to do. It has Sonic and Tails as the heroes, Eggman as a villain and Knuckles as a pseudo-villain. They'd probably shoehorn Amy into too. The story is simple, but has enough background stuff to keep it interesting.

 

That said, I expect an original story that tells Sonic's (And Co.'s) first meeting with Eggman

[Zaysho]

Sonic Adventure could stand to be retold, though the Echidna emphasis might make Ken Penders go crazy. So I guess a modern retelling of the original trilogy is just as good. Though, even something in the vein of Sonic Heroes in that it uses the huge cast of characters most are familiar with at this point, but with an actual (original) story, could be cool too.

[Nepenthe]

I would much rather an original adventure using general storytelling motifs from the games (e.g., Eggman's taking over the world, Sonic and co. must stop him) than an adaptation of a particular game or era. Develop an idea specifically for the medium from the ground up; treat it like any other animated film instead of concerning yourself with adapting from middling or nearly non-existent game material and playing even more into hardcore fanbase scrutiny. I mean, why waste probably the only theatrical movie we'll ever get on a story we already know?

[Tara]

I would much rather an original adventure using general storytelling motifs from the games (e.g., Eggman's taking over the world, Sonic and co. must stop him) than an adaptation of a particular game or era. Develop an idea specifically for the medium from the ground up; treat it like any other animated film instead of concerning yourself with adapting from middling or nearly non-existent game material and playing even more into hardcore fanbase scrutiny. I mean, why waste probably the only theatrical movie we'll ever get on a story we already know?

100% fully agreed.  I don't like the idea of retelling the old stories.  It just wastes perfectly good opportunities for something better.  Has it been confirmed that this would be a theatrical release, let alone existent, though?

[Nepenthe]

This has not yet been confirmed to exist. xD

[Willsy]

Remember the SA3 and Shenmue 3 trademarks. They were fake, and it pains me to say this, but this could be fake too.

[Tara]

Remember the SA3 and Shenmue 3 trademarks. They were fake, and it pains me to say this, but this could be fake too.

This may be something that depends entirely on the registrar, but I don't think you can register a domain without some sort of email confirmation.  So I think it's safe to say the domains are real and have been registered by Sony, but rather or not they'll go anywhere is still up for debate.

[Tani Coyote]

I don't think gaming companies are making movies like these to appeal to their fanbase, however. So... we will very possibly get a film that's a recap of one of the already-existing stories, with some creative license, just like Sly and Ratchet. I think these movies are instead being made to appeal to a wider audience who will in turn hopefully become consumers of the games.

 

That's assuming any film is grounded in the games, at least.

[Milo]

Judging movies of not just video game adaptations, but /any/ adaptation of a franchise with an  "original" story or a "origin" story (loosely) based on the series and their characters, consider me pessimistic that an original take on Sonic -which, for the record, has had the likes of Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic 06, Underground, the Eddie Lebron fan film, and presumably an entire library bookshelf's worth of Archie Sonic issues on it's resume of awful stories- could actually be executed in an non-embarrassing fashion to say the least.

 

Unless they got (script)writers who have penned really good stories for either/both videogames and/or film; I'd rather they take an existing story which is passable on it's own (namely referring to the Death Egg Saga -Sonic 2, 3, &K-, Adventure 1, probably Unleashed on a pure synopsis front, even the OVA would be a good choice) and work from there, rather than try to cobble together staple characters of the franchise and attempt to make a coherent story (read: Sonic X with Totally Radical dialogue and poop jokes every ten minutes) out of it.

 

Personally I'd like to see an adaptation of the Death Egg Saga (or just Sonic 3&K, with a cold opening of the climax and finale of Sonic 2 a la Unleashed's cold opening), presumably with an Metal Sonic getting an expanded role as The Dragon to Eggman and filling in roles served by Mecha Sonic (mk. I)/Silver Sonic and Mecha Sonic (mk. II)'s role in S2 and S&K with his OVA personality/tendencies.

[Badnik Mechanic]

Oh lord...

Could it be?

[TheOcelot]

I think it's a tad bit sexist that they say the target market as only 'boys'. What about girls?

[Zaysho]

So I guess "Sonic Boom" will be the basis of the film then? Or is that blurb just confirming there is a movie? If the former... well, so much for hoping it'd be its own entity, but it's cool to know SEGA's got some big plans for Sonic in the next couple years.