More than three years after it became a source of embarrassment in Hollywood, producer Tim Miller has addressed the rumor that Sonic the hedgehog‘s bad design was a deliberate marketing ploy. After making a name for himself in the film industry with his work in the field of visual effects, co-founder of animation house Blur Studio and effects for The girl with the dragon tattoo and Thor: The Dark Worldwould Miller make his directorial debut with Deadpool. Miller would later make and direct several episodes of Netflix Love, death and robots and Terminator: Dark Fate.
While they were on the directing side of things, Miller and Blur Studio would help launch the Sonic the hedgehog film franchise co-directed Jeff Fowler, with Ben Schwartz playing the titular character and Jim Carrey playing the iconic Doctor Eggman. Despite the character’s large fanbase, the franchise nearly failed before the first movie was even released when the first Sonic the hedgehog trailer revealed a drastically different design for the SEGA speedster, which received universal criticism, delaying the movie while the team reworked the design to get closer to its video game counterpart. While the redesign scored much better with the public, some have questioned whether the Sonic the hedgehog redesign was a secret plan of the filmmakers.
While appearing in the final episode of Gang crew‘s VFX Artists RespondTim Miller addressed the rumor that Sonic the hedgehog‘s bad design was a deliberate marketing ploy. The producer debunked the conspiracy theory, but acknowledged that “looking backIn the end it worked in their favor. See what Miller said below:
No, but in hindsight Jeff and I talked about it, I feel like it was the most terrible thing that could have happened because I feel like fans appreciate that their voices were heard, and it gave them a sense of some sense of ownership in the film’s success, and they should feel ownership.
How Sonic’s Bad Design Benefited the Movie
As Miller points out, the Sonic the hedgehog poor design may have gotten a lot of criticism from viewers, but it ultimately benefited the film upon release. Not only were a lot more eyes on the movie after the second trailer showed a much more faithful design for the video game character, but it also forced audiences to hit the cinema to give the movie a shot, believing that the creative team effectively listened to what they wanted from an adaptation of the franchise. Critics and the public eventually looked up positively Sonic the hedgehog as a whole, share their appreciation for the visual effects, performances, and action sequences, becoming the sixth highest-grossing film of 2020 at over $320 million made against its reported $90 million budget.
This success has since Sonic the hedgehog franchise into a whole new medium with the 2022 sequel that scored better reviews from critics and audiences and surpassed its predecessor by earning more than $400 million. Even before Sonic the hedgehog 2success, Paramount showed their confidence in the future of the franchise by ordering Sonic the hedgehog 3which has since been slated for a December 2024 release, and its spin-off Knuckles Paramount+ show for Elba’s character, scheduled to premiere in 2023. Audiences can rewatch the first two Sonic the hedgehog movies now streaming on Paramount+ and Prime Video.
Source: Gang crew
