Sonic the Hedgehog (film)
Sonic the Hedgehog[b] is a 2020 action-adventure comedy film based on the video game series of the same name published by Sega. The film was directed by Jeff Fowler and written by Pat Casey and Josh Miller. It stars Ben Schwartz (as the voice of Sonic the Hedgehog), James Marsden, and Jim Carrey. The plot follows Sonic, a blue anthropomorphic hedgehog who can run at supersonic speeds, who teams up with a town sheriff to stop mad scientist Dr. Robotnik.
This article is about the 2020 film. For the 1996 animated film, see Sonic the Hedgehog (Original Video Animation).Sonic the Hedgehog
- Neal H. Moritz
- Toby Ascher
- Toru Nakahara
- Takeshi Ito
- January 25, 2020 (Paramount Pictures lot)
- February 14, 2020 (United States)
- June 26, 2020 (Japan)
99 minutes[4]
English
$319.7 million[7]
Development for a Sonic film began in the 1990s but did not leave the planning stage until Sony Pictures acquired the film rights in 2013. Fowler was brought in to direct in 2016. After Sony put the project in turnaround, Paramount Pictures acquired it in 2017. Most of the cast signed on by August 2018. Principal photography took place between September and October that year in Vancouver and on Vancouver Island. Following the negative reaction to the first trailer's reveal of Sonic's appearance in April 2019, Paramount delayed the film release by three months to redesign Sonic.
Sonic the Hedgehog premiered at the Paramount Pictures studio lot on January 25, 2020, before its theatrical release in the United States on February 14, and received mixed reviews from critics. It set the record for the biggest opening weekend for a video game film in the United States and Canada and grossed $319.7 million worldwide, becoming the sixth highest-grossing film of 2020 and the highest-grossing video game film adaptation in North America until it was surpassed by its sequel, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022).
A third film, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, is scheduled for release in December 2024. A spin-off miniseries, Knuckles, starring Idris Elba, is scheduled to premiere on Paramount+ on April 26 2024.
Plot[edit]
On a distant planet, Sonic, a young anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who can run at supersonic speed, is unexpectedly attacked by an echidna tribe. His guardian, an anthropomorphic owl named Longclaw, gives him a bag of golden rings that open portals to distant locations. She uses one to send him to Earth while she stays behind to hold off the echidnas, leaving Sonic alone.
Ten years later, a teenage Sonic enjoys a secret life in a cavern under the rural town of Green Hills, Montana, but longs to make friends. He idolizes the local sheriff Tom Wachowski and his wife Maddie, unaware that the pair are planning to relocate to San Francisco as Tom plans to accept a job at the SFPD.
One night, Sonic grows upset over his loneliness while playing baseball alone and, while running at unusually high speeds, accidentally triggers an electromagnetic pulse that causes a massive power outage across the Pacific Northwest. The U.S. Department of Defense reluctantly enlists the services of eccentric roboticist and scientific genius Dr. Robotnik to determine the cause of the outage. Realizing his cover has been blown, Sonic reluctantly plans to leave Earth for a different planet only containing mushrooms and fungi.
As Sonic prepares to leave, Tom discovers him in his shed and tranquilizes him. Upon reading the writing on Tom's shirt, Sonic accidentally opens a portal to San Francisco and drop his bag of rings through the portal to the Transamerica Pyramid's roof before passing out. After Sonic recovers, Tom hesitantly agrees to help him and the two flee when confronted by Robotnik, who falsely labels Tom a domestic terrorist. The two bond as they make their way to San Francisco, with Tom relating to Sonic's desire for friends. Sonic creates a bucket list in a western-themed bar where Tom helps him complete several entries, culminating in a bar fight.
Meanwhile, Robotnik discovers that one of Sonic's quills holds an almost limitless amount of energy and plans to capture and use Sonic to empower his machines. As he tracks them down, Sonic and Tom manage to fight off several mechanized drones sent by Robotnik, but Sonic is injured in the battle.
Arriving in San Francisco, Tom brings Sonic to Maddie, who treats him at her sister Rachel's home, where Rachel's daughter, Jojo, gives Sonic new shoes. The group heads to the roof of the Transamerica Pyramid and recovers the rings as Robotnik arrives in an advanced hovercraft powered by the quill. Sonic fights off Robotnik's drones, hastily using one of his rings to send Tom and Maddie back to Green Hills to protect them; however, Robotnik uses the quill's power to match Sonic's speed. Sonic fights Robotnik in a chase across the world utilizing the rings before Robotnik subdues Sonic in Green Hills. Tom and the townsfolk intervene, and Tom acknowledges Sonic as his friend, causing Sonic to regain consciousness and strength. The empowered Sonic defeats Robotnik by obliterating his hovercraft and banishing him to the mushroom planet through a ring portal with a help from Tom.
Following the incident, Tom and Maddie decide to stay in Green Hills and let Sonic live with them, treating him as a surrogate son. The government erases all evidence of the events, including records of Robotnik's existence. Some time later, Robotnik, who is still in possession of Sonic's quill and usable equipment salvaged from the remains of his hovercraft, plans to return to Earth and get his revenge against Sonic.
In a mid-credit scene, an anthropomorphic two-tailed fox[c] emerges from a ring portal on Earth, searching for Sonic.
Production[edit]
Prior efforts[edit]
Development for a film adaptation of the Sonic the Hedgehog video games began in 1993 during production of DIC Entertainment's television show Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. Michealene Risley, the newly appointed consumer products director who helped license Sonic for Adventures, negotiated with several Hollywood producers. Sega of America CEO Tom Kalinske was wary of damaging the brand, citing the commercial and critical failures of the Super Mario Bros. and Street Fighter films. Despite Kalinske's concerns, Sega was enthusiastic. In August 1994, Sega struck a development deal with MGM and Trilogy Entertainment Group, with Pen Densham as executive producer.[24]
MGM and Sega hired Richard Jefferies, an associate of Risley from her days at Marvel Comics, to write a film treatment. At the time, Sega was developing the video game Sonic X-treme (which was canceled in late 1996) for its next console, the Sega Saturn, and asked Jefferies to feature the Saturn in the screenplay. Jefferies' treatment, Sonic: Wonders of the World, was submitted in May 1995. While the draft received a positive response among MGM and Sega executives, Sega COO Shinobu Toyoda suggested Kalinske replace Robotnik with a meaner villain. MGM canceled the project after a failed attempt to revive it at DreamWorks. Jeffries suggested that the film was scrapped as both Sega and MGM wanted a higher share of the profits, while Densham said it followed creative differences between Sega and Trilogy.[24]
During the late 1990s, Ben Hurst attempted to revive and properly conclude the animated Sonic the Hedgehog television series, in which he worked as a writer. After failing to tell the conclusion in an Archie Sonic Super Special comic,[25] and after being dissuaded from attempting to continue the series as a network show during an interview with Robby London,”[26] a DIC Entertainment executive, he decided to pursue telling the rest of the SatAM story in a feature film. Robby London put Hurst in contact with a Sega executive interested in the idea. Hurst was contacted by Ken Penders, writer of the Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series, who had been alerted of Hurst's plans. Though Hurst told him his strategy and offered to include him in his effort, Penders allegedly told Sega that Hurst was trying to co-opt the franchise, leading Sega to dismiss Hurst and his proposal.[27] Ben would attempt to get the movie made once more from 2005 to 2006, but this ultimately fell through.
In September 2003, Penders pitched his own concept for a Sonic film, Sonic Armageddon. In Penders' words, the movie would have been an origin story and a series reset, resolving the plot threads which began in the animated Sonic show and continued in Archie's comic series. The project was dropped in 2007 due to a corporate upheaval and the death of Sega licensing manager Robert Leffler, who had supported Penders.[28]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
Sonic the Hedgehog grossed $149 million in the United States and Canada, and $170.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $319.7 million.[7] It was the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2020, and the highest-grossing superhero film of the year, ending Marvel Studios' decade-long run of having the highest-grossing film of the genre (from 2010 to 2019).[106][107] The film's budget was estimated at being between $85 million[7] and $90 million.[108][109][8]
In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside Fantasy Island, The Photograph, and Downhill, and was initially projected to gross $40–50 million from 4,130 theaters in its four-day President's Day opening weekend.[110][111] After making $21 million on its first day (including $3 million from Thursday night previews), estimates were raised to $64 million.[112] It went on to top the box office with a $58 million debut over the three-day weekend, and $70 million over the four, breaking Detective Pikachu's record for the biggest opening weekend by a video game-based film. It was also the fourth-best President's Day holiday weekend and Jim Carrey's second biggest opening weekend, behind Bruce Almighty (2003).[63] The success was attributed in part to the redesign of Sonic and the publicity it created, and the delayed release date, which meant it opened with less competition from other family films.[113] Opening day audiences were 56% male and 44% female, with 70% under 25 years.[63] In its second weekend, Sonic the Hedgehog made $26.2 million and retained the top spot at the box office, bringing its ten-day domestic gross to $106.6 million.[114][115] Sonic the Hedgehog made $16.3 million in its third weekend and was dethroned by newcomer The Invisible Man.[116] On March 14, 2020, it became the highest-grossing film based on a video game in US box office history, surpassing Detective Pikachu.[117]
Sonic the Hedgehog was released in 40 countries during its three-day opening weekend, topping the international box office with $43 million. Its strongest 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 made $101 million over the three-day weekend and $113 million over the four days.[118][119] In its second weekend the film again topped the international box office with $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 ($19.1 million), Mexico ($12.3 million), and France ($9.1 million), retaining the top spot in these markets. The film opened in 16 new markets, led by a number-one debut in Russia ($6.3 million).[120] The film was released in Japan on June 26, 2020, after being postponed from a previous March release due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and debuted at No. 6 that weekend.[121][122] In China, the release was also postponed due to the pandemic,[123] eventually receiving a July 31 date and underperforming at the Chinese box office due to new pandemic-related theatre policies there.[124][125]
In terms of box office admissions, the film sold 15,876,790 tickets in the United States and Canada (annual rank #3), 6,811,679 tickets in Mexico (annual #1), 893,634 tickets in Peru (annual #2), 468,697 tickets in Ecuador (annual #1), 67,230 tickets in the Dominican Republic (annual #2),[126] 12,454,206 tickets in Europe (annual #3),[127][128] 3,001,403 tickets in Brazil (annual #3),[129] 698,500 tickets in China,[130] 687,740 tickets in Argentina (annual #3),[131] and 118,725 tickets in South Korea,[132] for a combined 41,078,604 tickets sold in these territories.
Critical response[edit]
Several publications reported that Sonic the Hedgehog received mostly positive reviews upon release, with critics praising the redesign of Sonic and the cast performances, but criticizing its "boring beige of the real human world", product placements, and screenplay for its lack of ambition and "had nothing to do with the games or what makes them so fun",[133][134][135][136] while The Independent stated that the film garnered mixed reviews.[137] On Rotten Tomatoes, 63% of 254 reviews are positive, 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."[138] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 47 out of 100, based on 42 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[139] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, and PostTrak reported it received an average 4 out of 5 stars, with 66% of viewers they surveyed saying they would definitely recommend it.[63]
Akeem Lawanson of IGN gave the film a score of 7 out of 10, praising 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."[140] Dami Lee of The Verge gave the film a positive review, praising the nostalgic elements seen in the film, writing 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."[141] Corey Plante of Inverse called it a "road trip superhero movie" and "the best superhero movie of 2020" so far.[142] John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter, gave the film a positive review, saying: "Flesh-and-blood actors help keep this game derived kids' flick afloat."[143]
Gene Park of The Washington Post gave the film 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."[144] Amon Warrman of Empire 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."[145] Ben Kenigsberg of The New York Times gave the film a negative review and wrote, "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."[146]
Variety's Owen Gleiberman criticized the tone: "For all the borderline tedium I felt at Sonic the Hedgehog, I do realize that this is a picture made for 8-year-olds. And they'll probably like it just fine. Yet I would also call the overly kiddified tone of the movie a mistake."[147] Writing for The Guardian, Steve Rose gave the film 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".[148] Simon Abrams of RogerEbert.com gave the film one out of four, writing, "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."[149] Tim Grierson of Screen Daily also gave the film a negative review, writing, "The film projects enough benign cheerfulness that the experience is never unpleasant, but one can't help but feel the filmmakers' strain in crafting a sly action-comedy for audiences expecting over-the-top spectacle and nonstop quips. Sadly, Sonic isn't swift enough to deliver."[150]
Other media[edit]
Novelization[edit]
A chapter novel based on the film, titled Sonic the Hedgehog: The Official Movie Novelization, written by Kiel Phegley and published by Penguin Books, was released alongside the film on February 14, 2020.[161]