Production is currently underway on the Sonic the Hedgehog movie and it has just been announced that actor Ben Schwartz will voice the title character. The news comes after the first photo from the set was released online, which featured a sign welcoming visitors to Green Hill. In addition to being the, "Little town with a big heart," it's also the first level in Sega's 1991 original Sonic the Hedgehog video game, a nod that made a lot of gaming enthusiasts very happy.

Ben Schwartz will voice the iconic blue Sega mascot in the big screen adaptation of Sonic the Hedgehog. The actor is no stranger to the world of animation. He currently stars in Disney's Duck Tales reboot as Dewey. The series is about to air its season finale, which premieres at the end of the month and features a reunion with Schwartz's House of Lies co-star Don Cheadle, who is voicing Donald Duck for the occasion. Schwartz also voices Leonardo in Nickelodeon's Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Paramount has given Sonic the Hedgehog an official release date of November 15th, 2019. The big screen adaptation of the classic Sega video game has been talked about for years, starting as far back as 1994, but nothing ever came of it, even when Sony picked up the rights in 2013. Sony let the film rights lapse and Paramount swooped in to pick them up to get Sonic the Hedgehog to the big screen. Even when it was announced that Paramount had the project in active development, many fans were very skeptical that it would truly make its way to theaters.

In addition to Ben Schwartz, Sonic the Hedgehog also features Jim Carrey as the villainous Dr. Robotnik. It was recently revealed that Carrey will be a live-action version of Sonic's main antagonist and the actor says that he will play the character with, "Magic! Mixed with desperation." The film also stars Westworld actor James Marsden who is playing Tom Wachowski, a cop who befriends the speedy blue hedgehog. Tika Sumpter has also been cast in an undisclosed role, which should be revealed shortly since the film is in production.

After 24 years, Sonic the Hedgehog is finally getting the big screen adaptation that fans have been cautiously waiting for. The video game movie genre doesn't have the best track record, and had the movie been made in 1994 like originally intended, it would have probably been a disaster like the Super Mario Bros. film. With that being said, the technology is in place to make a very interesting version of Sonic the Hedgehog that will see the Sega character interacting with the real-world with his main nemesis played by Jim Carrey. You can read more about Ben Schwartz joining the cast of Sonic the Hedgehog over at Variety.