Jim Carrey Reportedly Negotiating To Play Dr. ‘Eggman’ Robotnik In ‘Sonic The Hedgehog’ Live Action Movie
From Sega consoles in the ’90s to being adapted to modern day platforms, Sonic The Hedgehog and its spin-offs are some of the most popular video games of all time, and now a live-action CGI movie is in the works, and as Deadline reports, Jim Carrey is reportedly in talks to star as the famed villain, Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik. IMDb lists Jeff Fowler as the director, Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik, and though their roles have yet to be revealed, James Marsden (Westworld, X-Men: Days of Future Past) and Tika Sumpter (The Haves and Have Nots, Ride Along 2) star. Thus far, the plot for Sonic the Hedgehog is the same as the source material: Sonic and his friends battle the evil Dr. Robotnik. It is currently assumed that James Marsden and Tika Sumpter are Sonic’s friends.
Many fans of the video game are already skeptical because with a litany of panned entries—such as Doom, Max Payne, Silent Hill, Double Dragon, Wing Commander, House of the Dead, Bloodrayne, Alone in the Dark, Street Fighter, and Super Mario Bros, among numerous others—movies based on video games don’t have a good track record. While there are numerous failed titles, popular entries like Mortal Kombat and the recent 2018 Tomb Raider prove that it’s not all gloom and doom for video game movies.
Jim Carrey is largely known for portraying over-the-top characters, as seen in The Mask, A Series of Unfortunate Events, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Cable Guy, and Batman Forever. Some critics are already taking exception to Carrey portraying Robotnik because the character isn’t known for being whacky or zany in the video games. Since “Eggman” wasn’t a dialogue-driven character in the game and the fact that the character had an animated personality in the cartoon, many fans think this criticism is unwarranted. IMDb states that this will be an action-focused movie, possibly going for a P-13 rating, and that several rewrites have occurred because the original script was centered more on comedy. Though he is mainly known for his exaggerated comedic roles, Jim has played numerous straightforward characters, like his part as Tadek in the recent 2018 thriller, Dark Crimes.
Jeff Fowler is mainly known for working as an animator and writer in animated shorts, including Rockfish, Gopher Broke, and A Gentlemen’s Duel. The screenplay is written by Patrick Casey, Josh Miller, and Oren Uziel. Patrick Casey and Josh Miller have co-written together in the past with titles including Team Hot Wheels: Build the Epic Race(TV movie) and Golan the Insatiable(TV series). Oren Uziel is known for writing action movies and thrillers, like The Cloverfield Paradox, Shimmer Lake, and 22 Jump Street.
Jim Carrey is in talks to play Dr. "Eggman" Robotnik in the upcoming 'Sonic the Hedgehog' movie.
via @DEADLINE pic.twitter.com/eqfXvlD1V9
— Rotten Tomatoes (@RottenTomatoes) June 30, 2018
Sonic the Hedgehog is set to be released on November 15, 2019, and if Jim Carrey does play the role of Dr. “Eggman” Robotnik, which it looks like he will, it could end up being another rare successful entry into movies based on video games.
