Tim Miller, the director of highly successful film Deadpool, recently stepped down from leading Deadpool 2 due to creative differences with star Ryan Reynolds.
It seems that Miller is not out of work long, though his next project is a far cry from the R-rated, anti-superhero movie that he previously directed.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Miller has been tapped to become the executive producer of a Sony Pictures movie based on popular Sega video game franchise Sonic the Hedgehog.
The plan for the Sonic movie is a hybrid CG-animated and live action film that will be family friendly, which is a complete reversal compared to the no-holds-barred violence and language in Deadpool.
While Miller will be the film's executive producer, Jeff Fowler has been given the director role. Fowler, who will have the Sonic movie as his first director gig, has worked together with Miller at visual effects and animation company Blur Studio for over a decade. One notable result of their collaboration was Gopher Broke, a short film by Blur Studio back in 2004, which received a nomination for an Academy Award. Miller was the executive producer the project, while Fowler wrote and directed.
"Jeff is an incredible director with strong story instincts. The world of Sonic presents the perfect opportunity for him to leverage his experience in animation to bring new dimension to this iconic character," Miller said regarding Fowler.
Josh Miller and Patrick Casey, the minds behind Golan the Insatiable, will write the script. Neal H. Moritz from The Fast and the Furious will also serve as producer, alongside Takeshi Ito and Mie Onishi from Marza Animation Planet.
Marza, a CG animation film production company under Sega parent Sega Sammy Group, will be the production title for the Sonic movie in addition to Sony Pictures.
Also serving as co-producers are DJ2 Entertainment's Dan Jevons and Dmitri Johnson, with Toby Ascher to also work as executive producer.
With Miller's involvement in the project, in addition to the non-traditional approach that conjures images of Mary Poppins and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the Sonic movie is already shaping up to be an interesting film, to say the least. Whether that will translate to the same success that Deadpool achieved or to the failure that seems to follow most movies based on video games remains to be seen, with the question to be answered in 2018, when the Sonic film is set to be released.
