Yahoo Lifestyle 'Sonic' Star Ben Schwartz Says Hollywood Is 'Closer' To Making This 1 Video Game Movie
Ben Schwartz, the voice of the titular blue character in the new “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” film and its two predecessors, is looking ahead to a possible movie based on the Super Smash Bros. video games.
“We’re getting closer,” Schwartz said in a Variety interview published Friday, as he discussed the fighting games’ chances of getting a big screen adaptation
Super Smash Bros. is a crossover series that launched in 1999, with Nintendo characters like Mario and Pikachu duking it out in game stages based on their respective worlds.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl — the series’ 2008 installment for the Nintendo Wii — brought characters like Sonic and Solid Snake of the Metal Gear games to the virtual fight in a move that paved the way for more third-party, non-Nintendo characters to join the franchise.
A possible Smash Bros. film could feature both Sonic and Mario, who got a silver screen power-up in “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” last year.
That 2023 film, which earned over $1.3 billion at the global box office and became the highest-grossing movie based on a video game, is set to get a sequel in 2026.
Schwartz told Variety that he thinks it’d be “bananas” if Hollywood takes a shot at bringing Smash Bros. to the big screen, but noted that such a film would require “so many different studios being kind to each other at the same time.”
“But the idea that we get to build our own franchise that lives on its own, and we have so many characters within this franchise, that we can do three, four, five, six — that’s what I’m concentrating on and that’s what I love,” he said.
The “Sonic” movies are distributed by Paramount Pictures, while “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” was distributed by Universal Pictures.
Schwartz said he “would not be against” such a “battle royale,” but noted that he’d have to see if Paramount would let him “go play” in it.
He stressed that “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” is currently on his mind and if the franchise sees a fourth film, which is reportedly in the works, there will be more opportunities to explore.
After Variety brought up a Legend of Zelda film adaptation that Nintendo is planning with Sony Pictures, Schwartz pointed to 2019′s “Pokémon Detective Pikachu” as a sign that a Smash Bros. movie isn’t far away.
“So if you can get all these studios that oftentimes compete with each other to make the same movie and somehow split the profits, that would be wonderful,” Schwartz said.
“Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” which hit theaters Friday, is reportedly set to make $70.5 million over the weekend.
Read more on Schwartz at Variety.
