According to the FTIA (Film & Television Industry Alliance) Sonic the Hedgehog 4 starts pre-production next month, February 28th, 2025

https://x.com/sonic1news/status/1877992842133492100?s=46

So the wording is really dicey, as it specifically states the “shoot date” as February 28th, but logically this wouldn’t make sense considering (that we know of) a script isn’t even finished, and the film itself isn’t due until Spring 2027 (still a good two-ish years away). So unless the release date gets bumped up to 2026, and a script is nearly done, I’d take this with a grain of salt