As they say, “the future is always bright” – and that sentiment might apply to our favourite film franchises.
From “Sonic the Hedgehog” receiving a schedule for its fourth film, to Ryan Gosling potentially visiting a galaxy far, far away, here’s what you need to know about your favourite movie series!
Ryan Gosling Potentially Starring In Next “Star Wars” Film
The galaxy is a big place, and it just got bigger, as Ryan Gosling has entered the fray. That’s right! The three-time Oscar nominee is now in talks with Disney executives about taking the lead role in an upcoming “Star Wars” feature film.
What’s truly interesting is that the film will be directed by Shawn Levy, the director of “Deadpool & Wolverine.” For the longest time, the decorated filmmaker has kept his lips sealed about this project which has been in the works since 2022. Acquiring details about the movie is harder than getting the Death Star plans – but it is not impossible. We know that Levy has been working alongside Jonathan Tropper (a seasoned novelist and screenplay writer for “The Adam Project” and “This Is Where I Leave You”) for over a year in order to bring this sci-fi idea to life.
Unlike our previous “Star Wars” story that is set to be in the distant past of the canon, this one remains unclear in its timeline. Furthermore, it’s not even confirmed if Jedi will be the central focus of the film, let alone Gosling being one. However, it has been rumoured that it will have no connection to the Skywalker saga or its titular characters, Luke and Anakin. Additionally, according to The Hollywood Reporter, this film is meant to be a stand-alone movie, but Lucasfilm and Disney has neither confirmed nor denied this detail.
Moving on to Gosling, the actor has been added quite late into the movie’s development cycle. Levy was actually planning on directing a boy band movie for Paramount, which would have reconnected him with Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman. But Gosling’s sudden interest in the project and involvement forced him to alter course. If the deal is a go, then not only will it be the next film Levy will create, but it will also be the next feature movie in the franchise, with production starting up shortly thereafter.
Gosling’s addition will mark the rare occurrence of an actual A-lister actor hopping aboard this beloved but recently-contested franchise, whereas previous installments featured quite obscure, if not budding, performers that later became household names. Funnily enough, this wasn’t the first time that the “Blade Runner” actor was considered to be a part of the franchise. Back in 2013, when they were still working on “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” rumours spread that Gosling and Zac Efron were considered to play Abrams’ Kylo Ren.
“Sonic The Hedgehog 4” Slated For 2027
Hot on the heels of its highly successful third installment, the “Sonic the Hedgehog” film franchise has received the green light for a fourth film, with a release date set for 19th March 2027. Funnily enough, for those who are keeping track, Paramount actually announced the fourth installment before the third film hit theatres. To say that this early announcement is a gamble would be quite an understatement and would have failed had the third film flopped.
To date, “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” is officially the property’s highest-grossing entry, raking in US$218 million in the United States and US$422 million globally. With this in mind, some might say not creating a new movie would be the wrong move, especially since the Sonic game franchise has an extensive and colourful cast of characters that Paramount can pull from. However, this might be a bit problematic down the line.
Paramount is betting a lot on this franchise to work and continuously rake in the dough, and it shouldn’t be too hard thanks to almost 35 years worth of material. Proof of this is that the film production studio released a spinoff TV series titled “Knuckles” on Paramount+ back in 2024. With this sizable gap between each film with small entries in between, we might see another massive franchise much like Disney’s MCU. This is exciting as we can see a variety of our favourite characters sprint towards the big screen, perhaps even some new ones, but we fear that it might result in a Sonic burnout much like what the MCU did when it came to the superhero genre.
Disregarding the potential burnout, this is exciting news for the beloved hedgehog and crew as we get to see more of them on the big screen. Furthermore, if the trend continues where we get to see a familiar face per entry, maybe this fourth one might not be far off. Who knows, we might get to see Amy Rose or Silver the Hedgehog next. Hopefully, Mario and crew can keep up.
Source: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter
