AFD 2020: New Sonic Movie Cut Reveals Prototype CG James Marsden, Releases Mid-May

The Sonic movie has only just been released in the US on digital platforms, but Paramount has announced that a special edition of the movie will be unleashed in mid-May featuring deleted scenes and options to see the film with the prototype CG Sonic and… a prototype CG James Marsden?

Yep, turns out Sonic wasn’t the only character that had a facelift during the movie’s production. In extremely early cuts of the film – way before the original trailer hit last year – small-town cop Tom Wachowski was also intended to be played by a CG animation before Marsden was signed up to the role.

“Originally, the idea was to have almost the entire movie performed by 3D, CG characters,” said movie director Jeff Fowler in a press release concerning the new movie release. “We tried all sorts of models that would work well with our original interpretation of Sonic – it was our belief that working with video game partners like SEGA would allow us to collaborate on a human design that would fit in this world.

“To that end, we chose Silicon Knights as a partner and used their incredible CG work in Too Human as an example. Specifically, we actually used Baldur from Too Human.”

The screenshot above certainly shows what could have been – and with the Sonic movie in production for many many years, it’s plausible that a digital character such as Baldur would have been optioned as Sonic’s on-screen co-star.

Sadly – or perhaps not, depending on your point of view – Baldur was canned shortly before shooting of the movie began, as Fowler reveals the production team got cold feet with working with an entirely CG cast for the project. Around the same time, Jim Carrey had agreed to play the role of Dr Robotnik (“which wasn’t a sure thing at the time,” Fowler admits) and before that announcement it was decided that it was best for Sonic’s human friends to be played by live actors.

“In a way, it was a prelude to what would come later anyway regarding the Sonic model,” Fowler added. “We had a lot of feedback about the initial trailer in 2019, and so I think we probably might have had more – or less – of that kind of feedback if the entire cast had the same visual style.”

If you want our opinion, it’s for the best. James Marsden does a cracking job playing as the final-version Tom Wachowski, and it’s hard for us to imagine anyone else – digital or otherwise – in the role. But boy, this movie has had one heck of a production journey, huh?

Currently, the Sonic movie is available now in the US on digital platforms, and is due for release in UK late April (at time of going to press). This new version, which allows you to see CG Tom Wachowski (played by Baldur) in motion, will release globally a little later, in mid-May. Pricing has not yet been confirmed.

TSS Editor’s Note: April Fool! Have a great day everyone!