F&F PRODUCER MORITZ TO OVERSEE MORPH OF “HEDGEHOG” VIDEOGAME TO MOVIE

For years, Hollywood has been attempting to convert successful video games into successful movie franchises, with largely unsatisfactory results. It will now attempt to do so again, this time, however, with a producer who makes movies that look a lot like video games — Neal H. Moritz, the producer of the Fast & Furious films. Moritz will reportedly oversee a live-and-animated version of the Sega Genesis game “Sonic the Hedgehog” for Sony’s Columbia Pictures, with a script from Evan Susser and Van Robichaux. The studio is hoping to attract players of the video game, which has sold 149 million copies worldwide. Hannah Minghella, president of Production for Columbia Pictures, said in a statement, “We’re looking to capture everything that generations of fans know and love about Sonic while also growing his audience wider than ever before.”