It’s official. The upcoming live-action/CGI-hybrid film, Sonic the Hedgehog, has been delayed as stated by director Jeff Fowler on Twitter today.
The movie has been pushed back from November 8th of this year to February 14th, 2020. This was reportedly due to backlash, as the first trailer for the upcoming movie was released and immediately met with a storm of controversy over the way the movie looks and, more specifically, how the titular speedy blue hedgehog looks. They will be using the extra time to hopefully get things right.
Taking a little more time to make Sonic just right.#novfxartistswereharmedinthemakingofthismovie pic.twitter.com/gxhu9lhU76
— Jeff Fowler (@fowltown) May 24, 2019
The controversy was so strong that director Jeff Fowler seemingly buckled under pressure and announced that a redesign of the character would be happening. This is confirmed by Fowler’s announcement of the delay on Twitter with the use of the hashtag #novfxartistswereharmedinthemakingofthismovie signifying that the arduous task of redesigning the titular character throughout the entire movie is proving too much of a strain for the artists to meet the movie’s original release date in November. While Sonic the Hedgehog is now set to be released worldwide on February 14, 2020, it remains to be seen exactly when fans will next see any more of the movie in relation to promotional material or trailers until the VFX team have finished their redesign of the titular speedster.
The upcoming movie is based on the popular SEGA video game franchise first released in 1991 and focusing on the titular blue hedgehog as players complete a variety of challenging levels to defeat his arch nemesis Doctor Eggman in his quest for world domination.
Also read: Lucasfilm Developing ‘Knights Of The Old Republic’ Movie
The upcoming movie will star Ben Schwartz voicing the anthropomorphic hero. Schwartz is best known for his roles in shows such as Parks and Recreation, the 2017 revamp DuckTales series, and Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The latter two of which are voice over work similar to how he will portray Sonic.
Meanwhile live-action cast members include James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Adam Pally, Neal McDonough and Jim Carrey as Doctor Ivo Robotnik aka Doctor Eggman.
