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Sonic the Hedgehog runs incredibly fast, collects gold rings, and can spin into a ball of energy. He has been immensely popular since 1991 and has served decades as the mascot for video game publisher Sega. He has vanquished more foes than we can count, and now he is ready for his biggest challenge: Being the star of a movie.
Video game movies are more difficult to make than you might think. Films featuring classic gaming characters have always faced unique challenges. Old-school console games don't often have a lot of story to adapt. So filmmakers have to come up with plots that work as standalone movies, while also making sure that a character like Sonic still runs and spins. All of which is to say that the brass (or gold) ring of success has been out of reach for some video game movies.
Now, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG is racing to beat the video game movie curse. With a great filmmaking team and some excellent actors — not to mention a commitment to getting the character right which has taken the production in unexpected directions — SONIC looks like a whole new kind of video game adaptation. We can't wait to see the blue hero on screen. Here's everything we know about SONIC THE HEDGEHOG.
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG will come to theatres on February 14, 2020.
You can see the latest SONIC trailer above, which has the second version of the character. When the original trailer was released, the first Sonic character design caused fans to ask for changes. On May 2, director Jeff Fowler tweeted "The message is loud and clear... you aren't happy with the design & you want changes. It's going to happen." That's a bold statement that we can't ever remember seeing from a filmmaker before. For Sonic fans, it was a blessing.
It took a while for the new version to be unveiled. But this new SONIC THE HEDGEHOG trailer shows off a totally revamped version of the little blue runner, and the fan response was enthusiastic.
Interestingly enough, SONIC is produced by Tim Miller, who knows a thing or two about how fan demands can affect a movie. He created test footage for his film DEADPOOL, and when the footage was released online, the positive reaction helped convince Fox to make the movie. Miller is only producing this time, as he's working with first-time feature filmmaker Jeff Fowler whose 2004 short, GOPHER BROKE, was nominated for an Oscar. He also worked on Spike Jonze's ambitious film, WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE (Meanwhile, Tim Miller has been directing TERMINATOR: DARK FATE, but his animation and effects company, Blur Studio, is working on SONIC.)
In video games, Sonic's biggest enemy is one Dr. Robotnik, a mad scientist and inventor with delusions of grandeur. His grand plans to take over the world have been the narrative kickoff for many Sonic games. In the SONIC movie, Robotnik is played by the professionally manic Jim Carrey. The actor seems like a perfect choice, and his over the top energy is a highlight of all the SONIC movie footage seen so far.
If you want to see more of Carrey as Robotnik, Paramount released a video featuring interviews with the actor and an extended set of clips showing off his performance. Check it out above!
With Carrey playing the villain and an ultra-fast moving furry animal hero like Sonic, it's probably smart to keep the story simple. In SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, small-town cop Tom Wachowski (James Marsden, above) encounters Sonic — and to the movie's credit, he seems as confused as we would be. The two of them end up battling Robotnik, who wants to use Sonic as a power source capable of enabling Robotnik's plans for world domination. And so the stage is set for some explosive video game shenanigans. It's all a clever way of creating a narrative framework that allows the big-screen Sonic to act exactly like the Sonic we know from video games.
With the new Sonic movie design unveiled, we can see that this is at least a very faithful translation of the character. Now the question is: how much like the video games will the film really be? Sonic always had to grab gold rings to keep gameplay going. That's a mechanic that works for a game, but might be difficult to work into a film story.
In the trailer we at least see hints of the ring-grabbing concept in the shots set on Sonic's world. With Carrey's exaggerated turn as Robotnik, and the fact that Sonic isn't actually from Earth, the filmmakers have plenty of options to work in a lot of video game inspiration — and to allow the fleet-footed blue hero to finally break the video game movie curse.
All images courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
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