This August, Nickelodeon is becoming Knuckleodeon! Catch the brand new Paramount+ Original event series, Knuckles, premiering Monday, August 12, on Nickelodeon!
Set in the “Cinematic World of Sonic the Hedgehog,” from Paramount Pictures and SEGA of America, Knuckles is a new live-action six-episode event series that follows Knuckles (Idris Elba) on a hilarious and action-packed journey of self-discovery as he agrees to train Wade (Adam Pally) as his protégé and teach him the ways of the Echidna warrior. The series takes place between the films Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
In addition to Elba starring as the titular character, Adam Pally reprises his role from the film franchise as Wade Whipple. The ensemble cast includes guest stars Stockard Channing (The West Wing), Edi Patterson (The Righteous Gemstones), Scott Mescudi (Don’t Look Up), Ellie Taylor (Ted Lasso, The Mash Report), Julian Barratt (Mindhorn), Rory McCann (Game of Thrones), Cary Elwes (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning), Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future), Paul Scheer (Black Monday), and Rob Huebel (Childrens Hospital). Special guest star Ben Schwartz will reprise his role as Sonic, as well as special guest star Tika Sumpter, reprising her role as Maddie. Colleen O’Shaughnessey will also return as a special guest star in her role as Tails.
All of the key creative team from the previous films have returned for the series, including the films’ director/executive producer Jeff Fowler, who directed the pilot episode and helped transition the film's signature cinematic animation style to television, as well as Neal H. Moritz, Toby Ascher, John Whittington and Toru Nakahara, who serve as executive producers along with Idris Elba. Additional directors for the series include Ged Wright, Brandon Trost, Jorma Taccone and Carol Banker.
The series was created for television by John Whittington and Toby Ascher, who is showrunning during production. Whittington, who wrote Sonic the Hedgehog 2, serves as head writer and wrote the pilot for the series. Additional series writers include Brian Schacter and James Madejski.
Knuckles originally debuted on Paramount+ on April 26, where it smashed numerous records over its premiere weekend, including setting a new global record as the most-watched Paramount+ original series of all time with more than 4M hours streamed over premiere weekend. In addition to its overall record, the series marks as one of Paramount+’s most-watched kids-and-family title ever. The series launch also had a halo effect on other Sonic the Hedgehog titles on the service, with viewership up more than 278 percent globally over the daily average.
The combined global box office for Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 stands at $725.2 million. On Paramount+, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is the top-performing Kids & Family film on the service in reach and is also one of the service’s most re-watched films. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will be released in theaters on Dec 20th, 2024.
The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.
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Originally published: July 15, 2024.