While the film had a bit of a bumpy road to release at the beginning of this year, Sonic the Hedgehog actually turned out to be a surprisingly successful adaptation of a well-known video game series. In the tradition of major film franchises, the success of the first film has led to the promise of an upcoming sequel, with production officially set to begin within a few months.

Over on the website for the BC Creative Film Commission--an organization that looks over film and TV projects shot in British Columbia--a listing appeared for a production called "Emerald Hill." Naturally, as Sonic fans would know, this is a reference to the opening level of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and notes that the set is scheduled to start production in March 2021 and wrapping up in May.

At the moment it seems that the sequel is on track to begin filming around a year before its expected release in spring 2022, though the biggest question looming over the production is if there may be any potential delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Film and TV production has resumed in many parts of the world with COVID-19 guidelines in place, though several productions have experienced pauses or delays due to rising cases. Netflix's The Witcher experienced this recently during the production of its second season after an outbreak took place during the course of filming.

The first film was released earlier this year to commercial success and, compared to most other video game adaptations, also received a warm critical reception. To date, the film is one of the top-grossing movies worldwide and domestically, though it happened to release at an opportune time right before the surge of the coronavirus pandemic around the world. Following its success at the box office, it was officially announced by Paramount Pictures and SEGA Sammy that a sequel was officially in development and is scheduled to release in April 2022.