Paramount’s two Sonic the Hedgehog movies made a ton of money at the box office, and helped introduce Sega’s blue blur to a whole new audience. This year will see several major video game movies released in theaters, with The Super Mario Bros. Movie having grossed more than a billion dollars worldwide, and Gran Turismo and Five Nights at Freddy’s arriving in August and October, respectively. During an investor Q&A answered by Sega Sammy president and vice-president Haruki Satomi and Koichi Fukazawa, the company was asked if it would seek out additional theatrical opportunities beyond Sonic.
“If we can match the timing of game launches to the release of movies, it would be extremely effective from a marketing perspective and there are also significant benefits, such as increasing awareness of our IP and increasing the number of touch points for customers, as we achieved with the Sonic movie. We would like to take on challenges outside of the Sonic IP should the opportunity arise.”
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It would be interesting to see which Sega IPs might make the jump to the big screen! The company owns several beloved properties, including Samba de Amigo, Jet Set Radio, Super Monkey Ball, Phantasy Star, Crazy Taxi, and Skies of Arcadia, to name just a few. All of these could make for interesting movies, which could in turn result in stronger brand awareness. While Sega did not explicitly mention it during the Q&A, a live-action adaptation of the company’s Streets of Rage franchise is currently in the works from Lionsgate. John Wick creator Derek Kolstad is also attached.
As video game movies continue to draw major interest from audiences, there’s a strong possibility that more Sega franchises will get the Sonic treatment. One of the reasons the Sonic films have proven so successful is because they were faithful to the source material, and did not shy away from what made the games so popular in the first place. Hopefully we’ll see that same treatment for any other Sega game that hits the big screen!
What Sega game would you like to see on the big screen? Are you happy to see those plans extend beyond Sonic? Let usknow inthecomments orshare your thoughts directly on Twitterat @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!
[H/T: Video Games Chronicle]
