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Joker is a 2019 American psychological thriller film directed by Todd Phillips from a screenplay he co-wrote with Scott Silver. The film stars Joaquin Phoenix and is loosely based on DC Comics characters, including the Joker.
- List of Accolades Received by Joker (2019 Film)
Joker is a 2019 American psychological thriller film...
- Leigh Gill
Gill's father was in the British army, so he moved around a...
- Zazie Beetz
Zazie Olivia Beetz [7] [8] was born in Berlin in 1991. [3]...
- List of Accolades Received by Joker (2019 Film)
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is a 2020 action-adventure superhero comedy film adaptation based on the Sonic the Hedgehog video game franchise by Sega. The film is directed by Jeff Fowler in his directorial debut and written by Patrick Casey and Josh Miller. The film features Ben Schwartz as the voice of the film's titular hero, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik, alongside James Marsden and Tika Sumpter. The film features an alien blue hedgehog named Sonic the Hedgehog, who can move at supersonic speeds, teams up with a small-town sheriff Tom Wachowski to stop the government scientist Dr. Robotnik, who will stop at nothing to catch him for the world domination.
is a CGI/live action hybrid film, and an American–Japanese joint venture between several parties. It was co-produced and financed by Paramount Pictures, with Neal Moritz serving as producer as well through his Original Film banner. Tim Miller also served as executive producer under his animation company Blur Studio, and Sega's Marza Animation Planet unit assisted with the animation. It is the first entry in a film series planned by the company. The film premiered at the Paramount Theatre on 25 January 2020, and was theatrically released in the United States for its world premiere on 14 February 2020 by Paramount Pictures.
Initially, Sony Pictures acquired the film rights to Sonic the Hedgehog from Sega in 2013, before officially giving the film green-light at a private joint Sega/Sony Pictures press conference announcing the film on 10 June 2014, with Fowler subsequently hired to direct in 2016. The film then languished in pre-production for several years, mostly due to executive turnover at Sony and budgeting disputes, before being put into turnaround and then picked up by Paramount in October 2017. Most of the cast had signed on for the project by August in 2018. Filming shooting took place between July and October in 2018 in Vancouver, Ladysmith and elsewhere on Vancouver Island, Canada.
The film opens in San Francisco, California, where a seemingly normal day is interrupted by a shockingly unexpected spectacle: an anthropomorphic hedgehog with blue fur, white gloves and red shoes is running through the city at breathtaking speed while a flying machine piloted by a mustached scientist dressed in red gives chase and fires explosive energy blasts. In the middle of the chase, there is a pause as the hedgehog, named Sonic, begins to narrate what is currently happening and rewinds to the very beginning, recalling his childhood days living on a beautiful island in another world with palm trees, waterfalls, and even loop-de-loops made of soil. He remembers running joyously across the island every day, relishing in life and making full, open use of his natural-born powers despite being told to keep them secret by his doting guardian, Longclaw the Owl.
A then young Sonic rushes home to the treehouse where Longclaw is resting and playfully bumps into her to wake her up. Longclaw warns Sonic that he might have been noticed because of his coveted powers, but Sonic is not concerned, saying he was too fast to be seen. But as he affectionately presents a sunflower to her as a gift (a gesture that touches the owl), they are ambushed by a tribe of echidna warriors. Her fears realized, Longclaw desperately flies away with Sonic, only for one of the echidnas to fire his arrow and successfully strike her, causing her to plummet to the ground with Sonic still clinging to her. Though injured, Longclaw reminds Sonic of the importance of keeping himself and his powers hidden, and uses a golden Ring to open a portal to a planet on the far side of the universe, called Earth. She gives the rest of the Rings to Sonic in a small bag and tells him to flee to Earth, where he will be safe. The reluctant Sonic runs through the portal while Longclaw stays behind to hold off the approaching echidnas. Seeing her in danger, Sonic desperately runs back to try to save her, but the portal dissipates just before he can reach her, leaving him heartbroken and alone.
10 years later, Sonic, now a teenager, has adjusted to life on Earth. Tom Wachowski, the local sheriff of Green Hills, Montana, is sitting bored in an empty speed trap, waiting for cars, and Sonic playfully messes with him by zipping past his radar gun at ridiculous speeds. Getting out to investigate, Tom discovers one of Sonic's blue quills lying by a small opening in the long grass and brings it with him as he is called away by his deputy, Wade Whipple, to address a minor issue back in town. Nearby, Sonic saves a turtle from being run over by an approaching car and takes it for a wild ride before leaving it and zipping back to a hidden cave, which he has turned into a makeshift home. Sonic seems to love his life, since he has great fun with the discarded items from the outside world he uses to occupy himself and feels safe since he knows to escape to one of the worlds depicted on a map included in the bag of Rings, should he ever be discovered - specifically, an uninhabited world full of giant mushrooms. He hates the idea, but he is not worried, since Green Hills feels like a home to him. He frequents the town every day and secretly observes the people, his favorites of whom are Tom (or "Donut Lord", as he calls him for his tendency to talk to and eat donuts), and his veterinarian wife Maddie, whom he nicknames "Pretzel Lady" for her yoga flexibility. He also likes to mess with old, eccentric Crazy Carl, the only person in town who actually knows about him and is constantly trying in vain to catch him so he can prove his existence to the townspeople, since they laugh off his claims of a "Blue Devil". Having formed a strong bond with Tom and Maddie from afar, Sonic often hangs out around their house, especially on movie nights. But even with this fun place and all of these so-called "friends" of his, Sonic still feels very lonely in his self-imposed isolation and fears that he will spend the rest of his life alone.
After coming home one night to find raccoons in his trash can, much to his annoyance, Tom receives from Maddie his long-awaited letter of acceptance into the San Francisco Police Department, and the two discuss the difficult decision to move away from Green Hills, yet Tom is certain that the move is his chance to do more than simple odd jobs as Sheriff of Green Hills and actually save lives. The next day, as Tom recites his departure speech to a donut, Sonic observes the local youth baseball playoffs and sees a young baseball batter high-five his teammates. That night, Sonic goes into the vacant baseball field and plays by himself, using his speed to assume the roles of all the players. He manages to make a perfect play and rejoices, holding his hand up for a high-5, but when he looks around and sees that no one is there to cheer him on, he realizes he is truly alone forever. In his despair, he tries to work off the pain by running desperately around the field, but his sadness only turns to anger and frustration at his situation, his emotions building and causing electricity to emit from his body. Eventually, it becomes too much and he lets loose an anguished scream, the energy within him exploding outward into a massive electromagnetic pulse that knocks out power across the entire Pacific Northwest. Immediately after, Sonic becomes worried that he may have just revealed himself with his outburst and dashes off, hoping no one noticed. Meanwhile, much to the contrary, Wade is left to deal with several phone calls to Green Hills' police station, as the town is completely in the dark. Concerned, he contacts Tom, who starts to give him instructions but ends the call prematurely when he sees the quill he discovered earlier glowing with an electric blue light.
News of the event soon reaches the Pentagon, and Commander Walters of Defense enlists the help of brilliant roboticist and scientific genius, Dr. Robotnik, to discover the cause; in spite of everyone disliking his egotistical and eccentric nature, he is the best man for the job. After Robotnik and his partner, Agent Stone, take charge of the military detachment stationed at the baseball field, Robotnik's flying, high-tech, egg-shaped drones head into the forest, where one of them finds a footprint from Sonic and scans it; Robotnik discovers that his computer can't find a single match in Earth's animal kingdom to identify the creature responsible for the print, a fact that catches his interest. As the military troops and the drones search the forest for him, Sonic, realizing that he had just blown his cover, rushes back to his cave to collect his valuables and prepares to leave Earth forever. But just before he can use the Rings to save himself, the troops and drones draw close to his cave and Sonic flees to avoid them, sentimentally bidding goodbye to his cave.
Meanwhile, Tom is on the phone with Maddie, who has flown out to San Francisco to check out their future house, as well as to visit her sister Rachel (who dislikes Tom) and niece Jojo. As Tom tells Maddie about the blackout, he hears a disturbance and sees his trash can toppled over. Thinking the raccoons are back, Tom takes Maddie's tranquilizer gun, ends the call abruptly (which gives Rachel enough reason to suggest to Maddie that she should divorce him), and goes out to investigate the shed. The noise turns out to be Sonic, who broke into the shed so he would have a safe place to use one of his Rings. As he prepares to do so, Tom bursts into the shed and sees him. Both of them scream in terror at the sight of each other, and Tom fires a dart into Sonic's leg. The weakening Sonic sees a picture of San Francisco's Transamerica Pyramid on Tom's T-shirt, and as he drops his Ring, it opens a portal above the actual building itself. Collapsing to the floor, Sonic accidentally drops the bag of Rings into the portal, and it lands on the building's roof. The portal thusly closes as Sonic passes out, leaving Tom severely confused at everything that just transpired.
Voice cast
•Ben Schwartz as Sonic the Hedgehog, an anthropomorphic "juvenile delinquent" blue hedgehog who can run at supersonic speeds, is on the run from Dr. Robotnik and the government. However, Sonic resolves to use his powers to thwart Robotnik from getting his hands on his abilities for world domination. •Benjamin L. Valic as Baby Sonic •Donna Jay Fulks as Longclaw, an anthropomorphic owl and Sonic's childhood guardian who sacrificed herself to bring Sonic to Earth. •Colleen O'Shaughnessey as Miles "Tails" Prower, an anthropomorphic, two-tailed fox who is looking for Sonic.
Live-action cast
•Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik, a brilliant, but evil and insane mad scientist who is out to steal Sonic's powers and conquer the world, becoming Sonic's arch-enemy. •James Marsden as Tom Wachowski, a sheriff of Green Hills, Montana and newly appointed officer of the San Francisco Police Department, who befriends Sonic and ends up going on a road trip to San Francisco with him. He aids Sonic in his quest to stop Dr. Robotnik. •Tika Sumpter as Dr. Maddie Wachowski, Tom Wachowski's wife, who also befriends Sonic and helps him and her husband to stop Robotnik. •Lee Majdoub as Agent Stone, an agent who works closely with Robotnik. •Neal McDonough as Major Bennington, a military lieutenant, who dislikes Robotnik, despite his task to aid the doctor in his efforts to capture Sonic. •Adam Pally as Wade Whipple, a fellow police officer of Green Hills and a friend of Tom Wachowski. •Frank C. Turner as Crazy Carl, a conspiracy theorist who is only first human have seen Sonic and dubs him as the "Blue Devil", tries to catch him with every effort in using booby traps, but failed. •Natasha Rothwell as Rachel, Maddie's sister. •Melody Nosipho Niemann as Jojo, Rachel's daughter. •Tom Butler as Commander Walters, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who orders Robotnik to investigate the disturbances caused by Sonic. •Brad Kelly as Roadhouse Thug, a punk leader who harassed Sonic and Tom during a bar fight, but was defeated by Sonic himself. •Debs Howard as New Girlfriend •Elfina Luk as Secretary of Homeland Security, a secretary who works for Commander Walters. •Shannon Chan-Kent as Roadhouse Waitress, a waitress who serves food in the bar. •Garry Chalk as Navy Chief of Staff, a government chief who also works for Commander Walters.
and its trailers contain the following Easter eggs and references:
•In the first official trailer for the film, the line "Every Hero has a Genesis" is a nod to the Sega Genesis, the debut console for the original Sonic the Hedgehog video game.
•During the freeze frame shot in the opening of the movie, its possible notice a road sign reading "Mega Dr." This is a reference to Sega's Mega Drive/Genesis console.
•Near the beginning of the film, Sonic presents a sunflower to Longclaw that resembles the sunflowers in Green Hill Zone from the original Sonic the Hedgehog.
•Additionally, in a scene where Tom is talking on the phone with Wade, there is a window decal that looks similar to the sunflower Sonic gave to Longclaw.
•An engraving on a stone on Mobius looks similar to the ones found in Labyrinth Zone in the original Sonic the Hedgehog.
Early attempts
The first known development of a film adaptation based on the the video games from the Sonic the Hedgehog series arose in 1993, back when DiC Entertainment was producing the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog television series. Michealene Risley, who served as the newly appointed consumer products director who helped license the Sonic brand for Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, would negotiate with numerous producers from Hollywood. Meanwhile, Tom Kalinske, the CEO of Sega of America at the time, was wary of this idea, fearing it could damage the Sonic brand, and would cite the commercial and critical failures of the Super Mario Bros. and Street Fighter films. Regardless of Kalinske's concerns though, the Japanese branch of Sega was enthusiastic about the idea. As such, Sega struck a development deal with MGM and Trilogy Entertainment Group, with Pen Densham as executive producer, in August 1994. Within several months, Densham and his business partner Richard B. Lewis wrote a film treatment - titled simply Sonic: The Movie - that was far darker than either of the Sonic cartoons airing at the time and intended for older audiences. Reactions to the treatment, whose plot had almost no connections to the games, were overwhelmingly negative, leading to it being quickly shelved. At the suggestion of Risley, Densham hired Richard Jefferies, who had worked with Risley during her tenure at Marvel Comics, and tasked him to come up with a second treatment that was more lighthearted and faithful to the source material. Around that time, Sega was working on the development of Sonic X-treme, which would end up being canceled in late 1996, for the Sega Saturn. This prompted Sega to ask Jefferies on behalf of Sega of America to include the Sega Saturn in the screenplay. Eventually, Jefferies' treatment produced the draft for Sonic the Hedgehog: Wonders of the World, which was submitted in May of 1995. While those among MGM and the Sega executives gave a positive response to the draft, the CEO of Sega, Shinobu Toyoda, suggested that Jefferies replaced Robotnik's role in the film with a meaner villain. Ultimately, MGM would cancel Sonic the Hedgehog: Wonders of the World following a failed attempt to get DreamWorks to revive it. According to suggestions from Jeffries, the project was scrapped because both Sega and MGM wanted a higher share of the profits. Densham on the other hand said it followed creative differences between Sega and Trilogy: In 2002, Ben Hurst, a screenwriter for the Sonic the Hedgehog television series, would approach and consult DIC Entertainment about the possibility of making an animated Sonic film which was to serve as a continuation of the Sonic the Hedgehog television series. This prompted DiC Entertainment to put Hurst in contact with a Sega executive interested in the idea. Eventually, Hurst came into contact with Ken Penders, the by-then head writer of the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, after the latter had been alerted to Hurst's plans. Despite Hurst telling Penders of his strategy and offering him involvement in his effort, Penders would inform Sega's Japanese division that Hurst was trying to co-opt the Sonic franchise. This would result in Sega dismiss Hurst and his proposal. Not long after, in September 2003, Penders would present his own concept for a Sonic the Hedgehog film, titled Sonic Armageddon. This film, according to Penders would have served as an origin story and a reset for the series that would have resolved the plot threads that originated from the Sonic the Hedgehog television series and had continued into the comic series produced by Archie Comics. However, the project got scrapped in 2007 due to a corporate upheaval and the death of Robert Leffler, a Sega licensing manager who had been supporting Penders.
Development
Eventually, Sony Pictures Entertainment acquired the film rights to the Sonic the Hedgehog series in 2013. On 3 December 2013, Sony Pictures Digital Domain Names, Inc., a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, filed a notice of registration for three inactive websites addressed as "SonicTheHedgehog-Movie.com", "SonicTheHedgehog-Movie.net" and "SonicTheHedgehogMovie.net". The registrations were reported by Sonic Stadium on 7 December, but neither Sony Pictures nor Sega confirmed the existence of a proposed film project at the time. On 20 March 2014, a film adaptation was first hinted when The Tracking Board released a rumor about the film, stating that it would receive a "Dark Knight treatment" and posted a writer shortlist of proposed writers involved. On 10 June 2014, the official Sonic website was updated, with a locked section listing "TV and Movies." Later that same day, at a private Sega/Sony Pictures press conference, The Hollywood Reporter reported the confirmation of a live-action animated film hybrid based on the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, which would be a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Marza Animation Planet, a Japan-based subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings which had produced CGI cutscenes for several Sonic games, and that Sony had green-lit the project. It would be produced by Neal H. Moritz by his Original Film banner alongside Takeshi Ito, Mie Onishi and Toru Nakahara, and written by Evan Susser and Van Robichaux. It was later revealed on 21 June 2014 that Sonic the Hedgehog and its eventual successor films will be a separate continuity from the Sonic Boom continuity. On 19 November 2014, Van Robichaux later stated that the film production team was "aiming for [a] PG-13 [rating]". In February 2016, Hajime Satomi, the CEO of Sega, went on record and stated that Sonic the Hedgehog was scheduled for a 2018 release. On 31 October 2016, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Blur Studio's Tim Miller, who had left directing Deadpool 2 due to creative differences, and Jeff Fowler had been hired in 2016 to develop the film; Fowler would make his directorial debut, and Miller would serve as executive producer. Blur Studio previously produced cutscenes for the games Shadow the Hedgehog, for which Fowler directed cutscenes, and Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). Patrick Casey, Josh Miller and Oren Uziel were writing the new screenplay, while Casey and Miller wrote the story, replacing Robichaux and Susser who had left due to creative differences. In the summer of 2017, Sony placed the film in turnaround, after Sony's film financing partner LStar Capital ended its deal early due to a string of box office failures from the studio. Moritz subsequently left Sony afterward, owing to a period of hostility between him and Sony Pictures film CEO Tom Rothman; reports blamed the underperformance of Passengers, which Moritz produced, for deteriorating the relationship further. Moritz spent several months pitching the film to other studios, eventually catching the attention of newly-installed Paramount Pictures CEO Jim Gianopulos. Moritz and his team compiled a concept reel to show to Gianopulos, who was impressed. In September 2017, Paramount signed Moritz's Original Film studio to a multi-year first-look deal. That October, Paramount acquired all of Sony's options to the Sonic property, retaining all staff involved. On 22 February 2018, an official press release was put out confirming the film's move to Paramount and a release date of November 2019, a date that was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter two days prior. Sega had creative input into the project and co-financed it with Paramount, who would release the film worldwide. During filming, the picture was shot under the working title "Casino Night", a reference to the level in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Early drafts featured Sonic's Super Sonic form and its associated Chaos Emeralds from the video games. However, these ideas were scrapped, which according to Fowler, was because he felt "it didn't make sense to obviously bring in the Super Sonic thing just yet." Instead, he wanted for the story to focus on the portraying how Sonic and Robotnik's rivalry came to be. Independent outlet Omega Underground reported on 4 March 2018 that the film's producers were circling Junkie XL to compose the film's musical score, reuniting him with Miller once again after doing the score for Deadpool. The site also reported that Paramount was aiming to begin filming at some point in July, backing up story co-writer Van Robichaux's speculation he tweeted a month prior. On 29 May 2018, it was revealed that the film would have a budget of approximately $90 million. On 12 June 2018, it was later stated that shots of the film would be filmed along Vancouver Island's Highway 19 during mid-September 2018, and that the movie's current title was "SONIC". At Too Many Games in 2018, Johnny Gioeli stated that "Sega Has Nothing To Do With The Sonic Movie." Takashi Iizuka soon corrected this statement though, saying that he would be supervising the film. In an exclusive IGN interview the first official poster for the film was released on 10 December 2018, revealing its official title as Sonic the Hedgehog.
Casting
On 29 May 2018, it was reported that Paul Rudd was in talks for a lead role as Tom, "a cop who befriends Sonic and will likely team up to defeat Dr. Eggman." Paramount later clarified that this was not the case, but that Rudd had been considered for the role at one point. The following day, it was announced that James Marsden had been cast in an undisclosed role, later revealed to be the role of Tom Wachowski. On 7 June 2018, it was announced that Tika Sumpter was cast to star opposite James Marsden in an undisclosed role, later revealed to be Tom Wachowski's wife, Dr. Maddie Wachowski. Meanwhile, Jim Carrey was cast to play the film's main villain, Dr. Robotnik. Ben Schwartz later joined the film's cast in August 2018 as the English voice of Sonic the Hedgehog. Schwartz, who is a fan of the original Sonic video games for the Sega Mega Drive console, was chosen to play Sonic after Fowler and Miller had cast him for a test reading as they had pitched the project to several studios after Sony dropped it. Since they enjoyed Schwartz's performance, they would officially cast him as Sonic's voice actor. A few days later, Adam Pally and Neal McDonough were cast. Debs Howard and Elfina Luk would later joined the cast during November of the same year. Riff Raff was cast in an undisclosed role as well, but he ended up being cut from the final film product.
On 13 February 2019, Junkie XL, who previously worked with executive producer Miller on Deadpool, confirmed that he would compose the score for Sonic the Hedgehog. Riff Raff, who reportedly had a role in the film, makes an appearance on the soundtrack as well.
An original song, "BOOM" by X Ambassadors, appears in the soundtrack, the single having been released on 24 January 2020 by Atlantic Records. On 23 January 2020, it was announced that a single titled "Speed Me Up" performed by Wiz Khalifa, Ty Dolla $ign, Lil Yachty and Sueco the Child would be featured in the film as well. "Speed Me Up" itself received 15 million streams, along with 1.8 billion views for the "Speed Me Up" TikTok challenge. "Friends" by Hyper Potions, which serves opening theme for Sonic Mania, appears in the film as well. The soundtrack also includes arrangements of the tracks from Masato Nakamura's score for the original Sonic the Hedgehog. For the soundtrack, Holkenborg sought to catch the feelings for Nakamura's soundtracks for the original Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit). For this purpose, Holkenborg made use of Yamaha digital FM synthesizers (such as the DX7) similar to the Yamaha YM2612 sound chip for the Sega Mega Drive.[100]
The soundtrack, Sonic the Hedgehog (Music from the Motion Picture), was released alongside the film on 14 February 2020 in both digital and physical formats.[101] A limited vinyl edition of the film's soundtrack was also released by Enjoy the Ride Records.[102] Riff Raff, who had a role in the film but was cut, appears on the soundtrack.
Several songs were featured in promotion of the film including "Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio, "Supersonic" by J.J. Fad and "Blitzkrieg Bop" by The Ramones. In the film itself, featured songs included "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen, "Flight of the Valkyries" by Richard Wagner (performed by Jim Carrey), "All Fired Up" by The Lazys, "White Lightning" by Tennessee River Crooks, "Bad News" by Ghost Hounds, "I'm Turnin' 'Em Up" by Wyley Randall, "BOOM" by X Ambassadors, "Love in the City" by John Christopher Stokes, "Where Evil Grows" by The Poppy Family, and "Catch Me I’m Falling" by Kelly Finnigan.
Marketing
At the Comic Con Experience in Brazil on 6 December 2018, test footage was screened for the public to see.[104] Later, on 10 December 2018, a teaser poster featuring the redesigned Sonic was released. The design was unfavorably likened to those from the 2019 video game film adaptation, Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, which added fur and skin textures to the Pokémon characters. The reveal of Sonic's redesign received mostly negative responses from critics and fans alike.[105] Sonic's humanoid appearance in particular was described as evoking an uncanny valley-type of revulsive response by viewers.[106] Former members of Sonic Team, who created the original Sonic the Hedgehog games, likewise expressed surprise at the design.[107] Shortly after the first poster for the film was revealed, a second one was leaked online, prompting fans to criticize Sonic's design for its positioning of Sonic's legs and its lack of resemblance to the Sonic games. This would lead to the creation of an internet meme where users recreated the position.[108][109] The official Twitter account for the film soon after posted an image of Sonic behind a sign reading: "Can't a guy work out?"[110] More criticism from fans later emerged when images of Sonic's design leaked in March 2019. "Shocked" by the design, former Sonic Team president and Sonic co-creator, Yuji Naka, felt the ratio of Sonic's head and abdomen was imbalanced.[111] The first trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog was shown on 4 April 2019 at CinemaCon in Las Vegas.[112] It was subsequently released online on 30 April. What it got was near-unanimous criticism,[113][114][115] with Gita Jackson of Kotaku describing it as "horrific" and "a blight upon this weary earth."[113] Sonic's design was likewise criticized, his humanoid appearance in particular,[113][115] and some writers found the use of Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise" in the trailer inappropriate.[116][117] Conversely, CNET's Sean Keane praised the humor and references to past Sonic games.[118] Two days after its release, the trailer had been viewed more than 20 million times on YouTube, having received hundreds of thousands of "dislike" ratings that serverely outnumbered the "likes" ratings.[119] Paramount deleted the original trailer from its official YouTube channel around the same time when the new trailer was released. A second trailer, which revealed the newly redesigned Sonic, was released on 12 November 2019.[120] The trailer received far more positive responses, with many praising Sonic's new design. The tone and the humor also received positive reviews. The choice of song, J. J. Fad's "Supersonic," received similar praise.[121] Naka said he felt the new design was "much more Sonic-like."[122] The second trailer received thousands of likes and the highest like-to-dislike ratio of any trailer on Google in the previous three years.[123] On 11 December 2019, Sega of America announced the line of merchandise that would be releasing for the film.[124] Toys were to be made by Jakks Pacific and Build-A-Bear Workshop, and Toy Factory and Sega Amusements would make novelty items for amusement parks and attractions. Children's books were to be published by Penguin Books. Apparel and home decor would be made by Bioworld, Bentex, TVM Fashion Lab, Cooneen and Franco Manufacturing. A statue would be made by Diamond Select Toys, and Sega Shop would release various items. In-theater promotions like drink toppers and popcorn buckets would be offered by Snapco and Ping Solutions. More promotions included a tie-in with fast food restaurant Jack in the Box for Tiny Tacos, and an event in Sonic Forces: Speed Battle and Sonic Dash which added a new track based on a location from the film and unlockable playable teen and baby versions of Sonic.[125][126][127] Other partners were added to the film's website, which included Puma, Valpak, Books-A-Million and Bimbo.
Theatrical release and premiere
Originally, Sonic the Hedgehog was scheduled for a 2018 release by Sony Pictures Releasing. However, shortly after taking over the rights, Paramount Pictures rescheduled it to 15 November 2019. Eventually though, it was changed again for a release in the United States on 8 November 2019.[128] Later, in May 2019, director Jeff Fowler announced that the film would be delayed (again) to 14 February 2020, in order to "make Sonic just right" following the decision to make changes to Sonic's design in the film.[129] Playing with Fire took the original release date.[130][131] The movie's world premiere took place at the Paramount Theatre in Los Angeles on 25 January 2020.[132] The film was originally going to be released in Japan on 27 March 2020, but it was delayed until 26 June 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Home media
On 20 March 2020, Paramount Pictures announced that Sonic the Hedgehog would be released to digital on demand in both the United States and Canada before the end of the usual 90-day theatrical run. The decision to release it that much earlier than most films would after being released in cinema was due to film studios alongside Paramount Pictures choosing to release films to home media much earlier due to movie theaters closures.[133] The digital version was released on 31 March 2020,[133] and was released on DVD, Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray by Paramount Home Entertainment on 19 May 2020.[134][135] The bonus features for the film include: •Commentary by Jeff Fowler and Ben Schwartz[135] •Around the World in 80 Seconds[135] •Deleted scenes[135] •Bloopers[135] •"Speed Me Up" music video[135] •For the Love of Sonic[135] •Building Robotnik with Jim Carrey[135] •The Blue Blur: Origins of Sonic[135] •Sonic On Set[135]
Box office
Following its release, Sonic the Hedgehog would gross about $149 million across both the United States and Canada, and over $170.7 million in other territories, adding up to a worldwide total of over $319.7 million. It would also become the sixth-highest-grossing film in 2020, and the highest-grossing superhero film of the same year, notably putting an end to the ten-year long honor Marvel Studios had held from 2010 to 2019 about having the highest-grossing film in the superhero genre.[136][137] By comparison, the film's budget has been estimated to somwhere between $85 million and $90 million.[138][139][140] was originally released alongside Fantasy Island, The Photograph, and Downhill across the United States and Canada, and it was initally estimated that it would gross about $40–50 million from 4,130 theaters in its four-day President's Day opening weekend.[141][142] However, the estimates were raised to $64 million after it made $21 million on its first day, which included $3 million from Thursday night previews.[143] Over the three-day weekend, it made it to the top of the box office with a $58 million debut, and $70 million over the four-day weekend, thus breaking the record set by Detective Pikachu for the biggest opening weekend by a video game-based film. It was also the fourth-best President's Day holiday weekend and marked Jim Carrey's second biggest opening weekend, beating Bruce Almighty. The success of the film was partially attributed to Sonic's redesign and the publicity it created, along with the delayed release date, which meant that it opened with less competition from other family films.[144] The audience on the opening day consisted of 56% male and 44% female, with 70% of them being under 25 years and the remaining 30% being over 25 years. Over the course of its second weekend, Sonic the Hedgehog earned $26.2 million, thus retaining its top spot at the box office, bringing its ten-day domestic gross to $106.6 million.[145][146] By its third weekend, Sonic the Hedgehog had grossed about $16.3 million and was subsequently dethroned byThe Invisible Man.[147] Still, on 14 March 2020, it became the highest-grossing film based on a video game in the history of the box office in the United States, officially dethroning Detective Pikachu. Overall, Sonic the Hedgehog was released across forty countries during its three-day opening weekend, eventually topping the international box office with $43 million. Its strongest impacts in international regions were Latin America and Europe, with its largest openings being $6.7 million in Mexico, $6.2 million in the United Kingdom, $4.3 million in France, 3.3 million in Germany, and $3 million in Brazil. Worldwide, it grossed a total of $101 million over its three-day weekend and $113 million over the four days.[148][149] It would later top the international box office again during its second weekend by grossing $38.3 million from 56 countries for a ten-day overseas gross of $96.5 million, and topped the global box office again with $64.6 million for a ten-day worldwide gross of $203.1 million. Its largest international markets in its first ten days were the United Kingdom with $19.1 million, Mexico with $12.3 million, and France with $9.1 million, where it would retain its top spot in these markets. The film later opened in sixteen new markets, led by a number-one debut in Russia $6.3 million.[150] The film was later released in Japan on 26 June 2020, having been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, where it debuted at no. 6 that weekend.[151][152] In China, the release was postponed due to the pandemic as well,[153] eventually being released on 31 July 2020 only to underperform at the Chinese box office due to new pandemic-related theatre policies.[154][155]
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, Sonic the Hedgehog has earned an approval rating of 63% based on 244 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Fittingly fleet and frequently fun, Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game inspired adventure the whole family can enjoy and a fine excuse for Jim Carrey to tap into the manic energy that launched his career."[156] On Metacritic, the film was given a score of 47 out of 100, based on 42 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."[157] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave Sonic the Hedgehog an "A" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported a score of 4 out of 5 stars, with 70% of viewers they surveyed recommending it. IGN's Akeem Lawanson gave the film a score of 7 out of 10. He praised the performances and the nostalgia, stating, "While this family-friendly action-comedy suffers from a simplistic story and leans too heavily on tired visual clichés, Sonic the Hedgehog is nevertheless boosted by solid performances from Ben Schwartz as Sonic and Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik. Their ongoing cat-and-mouse game is entertaining, and passionate fans of the Sega franchise should appreciate all the nods to Sonic's history."[158] Dami Lee of The Verge also gave the film a positive review. She would praise the nostalgic elements in the film, noting that it "shines when it remembers it's based on a video game, and there's some genuinely fun stuff—like when Sonic uses his time-stopping powers or Robotnik's elaborate 'evil-plotting' montage that makes you wonder why more movies don't feature bad guys with choreographed dance sequences. Carrey plays up Robotnik as the cartoon villain he is, and it's a true delight to watch him in his element."[159] Meanwhile, Corey Plante of Inverse called the film a "road trip superhero movie," noting that it was "the best superhero movie of 2020" so far.[160] John DeFore from The Hollywood Reporter gave Sonic the Hedgehog a positive review as well, saying that "Flesh-and-blood actors help keep this game derived kids' flick afloat."[161] Gene Park from The Washington Post gave Sonic the Hedgehog a positive review, saying it was "the furthest thing from Cats, despite the early comparisons. Wary fans expecting the usual easy target to mock will instead find something to fervently celebrate for years."[162] Amon Warrman from Empire, on the other hand, gave the film two out of five stars, writing, "An on-form Jim Carrey can't stop Sonic's live-action debut from feeling like a missed opportunity. If the teased sequels do materialize, here's hoping the storytelling levels up."[163] Ben Kenigsberg of The New York Times similarly gave the film a negative review, noting that "Sonic now resembles a cartoon hedgehog instead of a spray-painted marmot. But if anything was done to de-genericize the script, it hasn't helped. Not that the Sega games—in which the fleet-footed hero zips around doing flips and collecting gold coins (which here encircle the Paramount mountain) gave the director, Jeff Fowler, much to work with."[164] Owen Gleiberman from Variety criticized the tone of the film, stating "For all the borderline tedium [he] felt at Sonic the Hedgehog, [he does] realize that this is a picture made for 8-year-olds. And they'll probably like it just fine. Yet [he] would also call the overly kiddified tone of the movie a mistake."[165] Steve Rose of The Guardian gave the film a two out of five, saying elements were "clearly indebted" to other films, such as Quicksilver's powers in the X-Men movies, and finding the message of friendship "trite and familiar."[166] Simon Abrams from RogerEbert.com gave the film only a one out of four score, saying that "Sonic the Hedgehog is only as successful as the amount of time you want to spend watching its animated protagonist go on instantly forgettable adventures, and boy, is that unfortunate."[167]
Before the film's release, Jim Carrey said in an interview, "I wouldn't mind going to do another Sonic the Hedgehog movie because it was so much fun, first of all, and a real challenge to try to convince people that I have a triple-digit IQ... There is so much room, you know, Robotnik has not reached his apotheosis."[178]
In February 2020, director Jeff Fowler stated his plans for a potential sequel to feature more elements from the video games.[179] In March 2020, Marsden confirmed that he had signed on for multiple sequels, stating "I believe, I don’t know if I’m supposed to say, as many as they want to make. Yeah, that’s my somewhat vague answer."[180]
In April 2020, Marsden expressed interest on a sequel featuring Tails and additional characters from the games,[181] while Fowler expressed interest in featuring Sonic and Tails' friendship from the games and further developing Dr. Robotnik in a potential sequel.[182] Ben Schwartz told Coming Soon later that month that a sequel had not been greenlit yet, but that it made sense because of the 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic.[183] On 23 April 2020, co-writer Pat Casey said that there had been talks about a potential sequel, although it had not been green-lit at the time, and that Carrey was interested in portraying a more game-accurate version of Robotnik in the sequel. He also hinted that a potential sequel could feature Super Sonic from the games, and that it could further explore the echidna tribe featured in the film's opening scene. Casey also expressed interest in a potential shared universe featuring both Sega and Nintendo characters.[184]
In May 2020, a sequel titled Sonic the Hedgehog 2 entered development with Jeff Fowler and his team from the first film. Patrick Casey and Josh Miller wrote the screenplay while Neal H. Moritz, Toby Ascher, and Toru Nakahara produced the film. Tim Miller returned to executive produce the film alongside Hajime Satomi and Haruki Satomi.[185]
2 was released on 8 April 2022, with much of the cast from the first film reprising there roles.[154]
In an invite to Kellen's Petty Talk Show released on 5 April 2021, Pat Casey and Josh Miller expressed interest in making a third movie already, going as far as to mention that there was an Eggman scene cut from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the sake of flow that they would want to re-add to the third movie.[186] A third film, titled Sonic the Hedgehog 3, was later revealed to be in development on 15 February 2022. Alongside this announcement was also the reveal of a spin-off series titled Sonic the Series featuring Knuckles which would air on Paramount+ in 2023.[187]
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