It’s impossible to overstate what an unlikely success story Paramount‘s Sonic the Hedgehog is. The film seemed destined to be the kind of unfortunate adaptation gamers are all-too-familiar with. However, the end result was a film that pleased both longtime fans and casual viewers alike. In fact, audiences clearly seem to love the blue blur, as Sega Sammy has announced a global box office take of $210 million over 10 days! Sonic the Hedgehog set a new record for a movie based on a video game, beating Pokemon: Detective Pikachu‘s previous three-day, $54.3 million record with over $58 million domestically. Impressively enough, the film has not yet been released in Japan, where the character first debuted!
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Of course, longtime Sonic fans are used to the character being a bit of an underdog. During the early days of the Sega Genesis, Nintendo sat on top of the video game industry, with little to no competition. However, the first Sonic the Hedgehog game became an instant hit with players, and what once seemed like a lopsided fight quickly turned into an all-out battle between Nintendo and Sega for the hearts of gamers. These days, Nintendo and Sega are on fairly friendly terms, but it’s hard not to see Sonic’s early success reflected in his most-recent win.
After the film’s disastrous first trailer, many certainly assumed the worst. The character didn’t look like Sonic, and fans were clearly not happy. Paramount made a bold move, delaying the film in order to make the character look more faithful to the original games. That effort clearly paid off, and it’s hard to imagine how the film would have fared had they went with the character’s initial design!
Starring Ben Schwartz and Jim Carrey, Sonic the Hedgehog sees the titular character stranded on Earth, as Carrey’s Dr. Robotnik attempts to steal Sonic’s powers. As he attempts to escape, Sonic befriends Tom Wachowski (James Marsden), a Green Hills police officer who wants nothing more than to be a true hero. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the film left the cast in the perfect place for a sequel. While Paramount hasn’t made anything official just yet, with the film’s current performance, a sequel seems all but guaranteed.
Have you seen Sonic the Hedgehog yet? What would you want to see in a sequel? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!
