It looks like Keanu Reeves is joining the Sonic the Hedgehog film franchise! Shadow, Sonic the Hedgehog’s fan-favorite antagonist, will be making his live-action debut in the upcoming threequel from Paramount Pictures later this year. This much was teased at the end of the second film, which opened in spring 2022. Now, after years of uncertainty, we finally know who is voicing the character.
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Keanu Reeves will be providing the voice of the character, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed earlier this week. This comes right after Paramount’s splashy presentation at CinemaCon last week, which got the entire town talking, and where the first footage of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was shown — but only to attendees, behind closed doors.
KEANU REEVES REPORTEDLY CAST AS SHADOW IN SONIC 3
Reeves is best known to moviegoers for his role as Neo in The Matrix film franchise, along with John Wick in Lionsgate’s John Wick franchise as well. He will reprise his role as the skilled hitman, aka the Baba Yaga, in the upcoming spinoff, John Wick Presents: Ballerina. The spinoff film is set in between the events of John Wick Chapter 3 and John Wick Chapter 4. It arrives in theaters in June 2025.
The Sonic threequel will be ready for release this December and will feature the return of Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik, even after he announced his retirement after Sonic 2. According to descriptions of the footage that was shown at CinemaCon, the evil doctor is pretty depressed following the events of the second Sonic movie, but gets his mojo back after learning about Shadow.
Despite the uproar that the first trailer for Sonic faced back in late 2019, with fans up in arms about the look of the beloved blue hedgehog, this has been a pretty lucrative franchise for Paramount, all things considered. The first installment was one of the first movies to be affected by the pandemic back when it was released in February 2020 — although the outbreak hadn’t happened yet, movie theaters closed just a few weeks after the movie opened. Despite having shorter legs than its lead character, it still managed to top $300M.
The sequel, released right before movie theaters were considered to be back in business, and in between the huge successes of Spider-Man: No Way Home and Top Gun: Maverick, crossed $400M and justified Paramount’s ambitions to make both a third movie and a six-part Knuckles series for Paramount Plus, which airs April 26.
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Jeff Fowler returns to direct the threequel, with Ben Schwartz back as the voice of Sonic, Idris Elba as Knuckles, and Colleen O’Shaughnessey as Tails. The film hits theaters on December 20.
About Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Release Date: December 20, 2023
Directed By: Jeff Fowler
Written By: Pat Casey and Josh Miller
Executive Producers: Tim Miller
Producers: Dmitri M. Johnson, Neal H. Moritz, Andrew Riach
Composer: Tom Holkenborg
Production: Sega Sammy Group, Original Film, Blur Studio, Paramount Pictures
Distribution: Paramount Pictures
Cast: James Marsden, Ben Schwartz, Tika Sumpter, Colleen O’Shaughnessy, Idris Elba, Jim Carrey
Synopsis: TBA
What do you think about Keanu Reeves voicing Shadow in Sonic 3? How excited are you about the new movie? What about the Knuckles series? Let us know your thoughts on our Twitter and also via our Discord server!
SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter
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