Paramount has announced that ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ has been pushed back from its previous November 8, 2019 release date, to February 14, 2020. The first trailer dropped in late April to disastrous results. Fans HATED the appearance of the titular character, who was given more human proportions, complete with muscular leg muscles, and more human-looking eyes and teeth. Director Jeff Fowler quickly took to Twitter to announce that they would be going back to the drawing board to redesign Sonic to look more like the cartoonish video game renderings. The film wasn’t to open for several months, so there was a hope that these changes could be completed by then, but it looks as though this was a bigger task than anticipated, thus this delay.
RELATED: Co-Creator Of ‘Sonic The Hedgehog’ Thanks Fans For Demanding Changes To The Movie’s Design
Once again, this news came via Fowler on Twitter:
Taking a little more time to make Sonic just right.#novfxartistswereharmedinthemakingofthismovie pic.twitter.com/gxhu9lhU76
— Jeff Fowler (@fowltown) May 24, 2019
This was Fowler’s previous announcement:
Thank you for the support. And the criticism. The message is loud and clear… you aren’t happy with the design & you want changes. It’s going to happen. Everyone at Paramount & Sega are fully committed to making this character the BEST he can be… #sonicmovie #gottafixfast 🔧✌️
— Jeff Fowler (@fowltown) May 2, 2019
To be fair, a lot of fans were put off by the designs of the Pokémon in the live-action hybrid ‘Detective Pikachu’, yet that movie has proven to be a massive hit, reigning as the #1 movie worldwide for two weeks. But those designs weren’t as extreme as Sonic’s.
This move might make better sense for another reason. Paramount already has two other major event movies scheduled for November– ‘Terminator: Dark Fate’ and ‘The Rhythm Section’, a spy thriller starring Blake Lively. Removing ‘Sonic’ will only help the box office of Paramount’s other two offerings.
In its new release date, ‘Sonic’ will be racing against ‘Kingsman: The Great Game’, a prequel to the two existing ‘Kingsman’ films, and ‘The Photograph’, a romantic drama with a largely African American cast. While the latter is obviously targeted at a different audience, there may be some conflict between ‘Sonic’ and ‘Kingsman’, so Paramount might decide to move ‘Sonic’ again, before then.
Are you worried that ‘Sonic’ has been delayed? Or would you rather they take all the time they need to perfect this picture?
Source: Deadline
