Sonic the hedgehog! We all wish we were half as radical as this guy!
After its release in 1991, the SEGA Genesis game quickly grew into a cultural phenomenon spanning multiple generations. However, the last ten years have been quite rough for the makers of the game. After ‘Sonic Generations’ was released in 2007 it seemed like the Sonic team didn’t know what it wanted the series to be anymore. Many argue that the best game to come out during this period was ‘Sonic Mania’, which wasn’t even made by the Sonic team. SEGA enlisted the help of fans to construct it. If it weren’t so sad, that would be amusing. Fans yearned for something fresh, anything that could turn the franchise’s fortunes around.
So, what would that turn out to be? Certainly not a game made by the Sonic team of course. It was time for a movie/CGI adaptation of the legendary game!
It’s no stretch to say that this movie has one of the most fascinating production stories out there. A story of how it almost got thrown into the pile of bad Sonic 2010’s content, but more importantly, how it turned itself into one of the franchise’s biggest successes.
Sony Pictures secured the rights to make a live-action/CGI Sonic the Hedgehog feature film in 2013. Unfortunately, Sony was unable to develop the film, so in 2017, Paramount purchased the rights and things began to move forward.
The fans however were concerned about how a live-action / CGI Sonic was going to look. Sonic the Hedgehog’s first trailer was shown on April 30th, 2019. The trailer, however, caught fire online for all the wrong reasons and it was clear that fans were not happy with the questionable CGI and overall look of the character.
From the iconic white gloves to facial expressions, in an attempt to make Sonic more “real” the team forgot to make him likeable.
The design was received with a barrage of criticism from supporters. It was a complete flop, and fans vented their frustrations on social media with nasty comments and memes.
Reaction channels picked up the noise, Twitter was on fire and it was looking like the beginning of the end…
And there was a possibility that the story would stop there. The film may have been released in November 2019, however, it would have received mixed reviews because it was a good tale that was ultimately pulled down by an unattractive lead character.
Sonic fans would undoubtedly have a good time with it, but it would ultimately be a missed opportunity. With a budget of $90 million, it may have made some money at the box office, but not quite enough to be considered a thrilling success.
Certainly not enough to warrant a sequel or even a continuation of the series. It would be released, people would comment on how unattractive Sonic was, and then it would fall into obscurity.
Good thing none of that happened!
Director Jeff Fowler made an announcement on Twitter three days after the video was aired, thanking fans for their comments and promising that the team was committed to resolving it by going back to the drawing board and altering Sonic’s look based on public feedback!
The result was a completely redesigned Sonic that went on to become the highest-grossing video game adaptation movie, making a whopping USD 319 million in the US alone.
Few films have ever existed solely on their own merits in movie history. A group of fans or a community will always champion a film and argue for its place in the zeitgeist. The success of a film is as much dependent on the audience as it is on the filmmakers.
The story of the Sonic movie is a shining example of community power and voice – something that’s central to us at Mogul Productions. By incorporating blockchain and quadratic voting, we are making sure we create a platform where every fan’s voice is heard.
Learn all about our quadratic voting process here: Mogul Pioneers Blockchain Voting with Quadratic Voting for Hollywood Movies
At Mogul we fund movies from script to screen and thanks to our voting system – the community is involved every step of the way.
Mogul Productions is revolutionizing film financing through decentralized finance (DeFi), allowing a global audience of film fans to directly participate in the movies and entertainment industry.
It’s a platform for film fans, by film fans, empowering users to take an active role in the script-to-screen processes of their favourite movies.
Well… that’s all for now.
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