The Sonic the Hedgehog movie has had its ups and downs. It was originally planned to release in theaters this November, but it was delayed after significant fan backlash. Sonic the Hedgehog fans were upset about Sonic's new look for the movie, with the criticism loud enough to convince the filmmakers to go back to the drawing board. Now fans have gotten their first good look at Sonic's new design for the upcoming film, thanks to a new trailer shared by director Jeff Fowler.
This new Sonic the Hedgehog movie trailer is the first time that we've gotten an official look at the Sonic redesign, but promotional material leaked it ahead of time. It remains to be seen how fans will react to the Sonic redesign after seeing it in action in the trailer, but response to the leaked marketing materials has largely been positive. It seems most fans approve of Sonic's redesigned look, as it sticks closer to his video game appearance.
Whether or not Sonic's redesign translates into more ticket sales for the Sonic the Hedgehog movie remains to be seen. As previously mentioned, backlash to Sonic's redesigned look has caused a lot of additional work for the filmmakers, forcing them to delay the Sonic the Hedgehog movie to February 14, 2020. It's possible that the added attention the film has gotten over Sonic's controversial appearance and the filmmakers' subsequent attempt to fix it will help the movie become a box office success.
If the Sonic the Hedgehog movie is a hit at the box office, then one has to imagine that it will be the start of a new Sonic movie franchise. Sonic the Hedgehog movie sequels would have a lot of source material to draw from, and could feature more Sonic the Hedgehog video game characters than just Sonic and Jim Carrey's Dr. Robotnik.
In the meantime, other Sonic the Hedgehog fans may be more interested in a new main series game starring the blue blur, but it's unclear when such a game will materialize. The last main series Sonic the Hedgehog games came out in 2017, and while Sega confirmed a new Sonic game is in development earlier this year, no further details have been released so far.
While some Sonic the Hedgehog fans may be disappointed at the lack of main series Sonic games, it's not like the popular character has been completely missing in action. On the contrary, Sonic has appeared in two video games in 2019 alone, starring in Team Sonic Racing and once again teaming with former rival Mario for Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Hopefully these appearances are enough to tide fans over until the next main series Sonic the Hedgehog game and the premiere of the Sonic the Hedeghog movie.
Sonic the Hedgehog will premiere in theaters on February 14, 2020.