Following the blockbuster success of Sonic the Hedgehog, star Neal McDonough reports hearing “rumblings” Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson might appear in the film’s sequel. The Jeff Fowler-directed Sonic raced into theaters last week to score the best-ever opening for a video game movie, taking the high score away from Pokémon Detective Pikachu with a $58 million opening and a current worldwide total of $128 million. After conquering Jim Carrey’s bad guy Dr. Robotnik and the box office, the speedy blue blur could be big enough to level up with superstar Johnson for an expected Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
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“What I saw in the trailer, the first trailer, I thought it was fine,” McDonough said at FAN EXPO Vancouver when asked about the re-design of the titular character that delayed the film’s theatrical release by months. “But what I saw in the movie was amazing.”
For McDonough, who plays Major Bennington — a.k.a. “Major Nobody Cares,” as he’s called by Carrey’s mustached madman — part of Sonic‘s speedy success is owed to being “such a great family film.”
“There was a little something for everyone — there were adult jokes that would sneak in there that we’d get, and the kids wouldn’t get, [and] there would be jokes that the kids would be getting that we as adults generally wouldn’t necessarily get — so it was a little bit for everyone,” he said. “And I think what they did with Sonic, he looked so great, it was a throwback to what the game was and I think they really nailed it. I think that’s why it’s the number one movie on the planet right now.”
“I’m looking forward to part two,” McDonough continued. Then, perhaps half-serious, he added, “Literally, part two, I’ve already heard rumblings that The Rock is going to be [in it]. The Rock is in part two of everything, by the way.”
Johnson had a run-in with Sonic when he received a shout out in a trailer showing a bewildered Sonic asking, “Where am I? What year is it? Is The Rock president?”
After Johnson responded to the reference on Twitter, where he wrote he “used to love playing Sonic in college” before adding “life can be so damn wildly unpredictable and surreal at times,” Fowler suggested Johnson make time for a cameo appearance.
Replying to Johnson’s viral tweet, Fowler wrote, “Still time for a #SonicMovie cameo @TheRock!!”
Still time for a #SonicMovie cameo @TheRock !! https://t.co/bf7DyVhp6k
— Jeff Fowler (@fowltown) December 15, 2019
Sonic fans embraced the idea, with some replying to Fowler’s tweets with suggestions Johnson — who voiced Maui in Disney’s animated Moana — be recruited to appear as President Johnson or lend his voice to Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic 2.
Based on the global blockbuster videogame franchise from Sega, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG tells the story of the world’s speediest hedgehog as he embraces his new home on Earth. In this live-action adventure comedy, Sonic and his new best friend Tom (James Marsden) team up to defend the planet from the evil genius Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) and his plans for world domination. The family-friendly film also stars Tika Sumpter and Ben Schwartz as the voice of Sonic.
Sonic the Hedgehog is now playing.
