‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ First Footage Splits CinemaCon, Reactions Vary From ‘Energetic Fun’ to ‘Off-Putting’
One hurdle Paramount Pictures had to clear during its CinemaCon presentation was the early backlash and skepticism facing its family tentpole “Sonic the Hedgehog.” The upcoming film adaptation of the widely popular Sega video game is putting an animated Sonic into the real world (similar to how Pokemon are being integrated into Warner Bros.’ “Detective Pikachu”), but first look posters have rubbed fans the wrong way due to Sonic’s hyper-real fur and new muscular physique.
“Paramount” tried to overcome the backlash by dropping the two teaser trailer at CinemaCon, one a traditional teaser introducing Sonic and another built entirely around Jim Carrey’s villain character and jokes that the movie is actually called “Robotnik.” The footage left journalists in attendance both hot and cold, with some intrigued to see more.
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“Sonic” marks the feature directorial debut of Jeff Fowler, who worked as an animation researcher and developer on Spike Jonze’s “Where the Wild Things Are.” Comedian Ben Schwartz is voicing Sonic, while the live-action cast includes James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Adam Pally, and Jim Carrey as the villainous Dr. Ivo Robotnik.
Paramount will open “Sonic the Hedgehog” in theaters nationwide November 8, 2019. Check out the first reactions below.
First two teasers for SONIC THE HEDGEHOG look kinda silly and definitely more oriented for a younger audience. At least Jim Carrey seems to be having an amazing time as Dr. Robotnik. #CinemaCon
— Kate Erbland (@katerbland) April 4, 2019
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG … #CinemaCon pic.twitter.com/dXV6KaQl9Y
— Jason Guerrasio (@JasonGuerrasio) April 4, 2019
It’s absurd we live in a world where there’s a SONIC THE HEDGEHOG movie. And it’s more absurd that, now, after seeing a clip, I want to see it. I just don’t know anymore.
— Mike Ryan (@mikeryan) April 4, 2019
We just saw Sonic the Hedgehog footage. Sonic is basically like 4 feet tall and naked. Which looks way less creepy than it sounds. The movie has a Michael Bay Transformers look and feel to it. #CinemaCon
— Germain Lussier (@GermainLussier) April 4, 2019
Based on footage they just showed, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG is gonna be the CATS of video game movies.
What kind of world is this where I had any reason to type these words.
— Russ Fischer (@russfischer) April 4, 2019
Controversial opinion: Sonic looks extremely off-putting, no way around that, but the movie itself looks…………kinda fun?
— Scott Wampler™ @ CinemaCon (@ScottWamplerBMD) April 4, 2019
Two Sonic the Hedgehog clips later and I still don’t know what I just watched
— Chris Sylvia @ #CinemaCon (@sylvioso) April 4, 2019
“Look at this, I logged nine million steps today.”
Two teasers for #SonicTheHedgehog – one introduces Sonic and the other Dr. Robotnik. Definite old school Jim Carrey here – he is deliriously nuts in the movie. It looks cute – huge Sonic Fan growing up, so I’m down#CinemaCon pic.twitter.com/wCoO3z4aRV— Erik Davis (@ErikDavis) April 4, 2019
Got a look at the #SonicTheHedgehog trailer, focusing on Sonic teaming up with James Marsden to fight Dr. Robotnik and then got a Jim Carrey-centered version of the trailer where he seems to be back in comedic form. He may well be the best selling point of this one. #CinemaCon
— JoBlo.com (@joblocom) April 4, 2019
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG looks like a fun family film w/ an energetic turn from Jim Carrey as mustachioed Dr. Robotnik, who got his own separate reel after the trailer. One scene w/ Sonic surrounded by missiles reminded me of Quicksilver’s standout scenes in X-Men franchise. I dug it!
— Jeff Sneider (@TheInSneider) April 4, 2019
Additional reporting by Kate Erbland.
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