Paramount PicturesSonic the Hedgehog is collecting quite a few gold rings at the box office – it’s made more than $200 million worldwide.
Video game movie adaptations have long been cursed. Look at the evidence: Warcraft, Alone in the Dark, Need for Speed – there’s a very clear disconnect between films and games.
That said, every once in a while, a little glimmer of light emerges – or in this case, a blue blur. Sonic the Hedgehog is proving to be a hit with audiences, climbing up the box office ranks with its $210 million-plus haul.
Paramount PicturesBased on the iconic SEGA speedster, Sonic the Hedgehog follows… Sonic the Hedgehog (Parks and Recreation‘s Ben Schwartz) as he navigates life on Earth with his newfound friend Tom Wachowski (James Marsden). However, a threat looms in the form of Dr Robotnik (Jim Carrey), who wants to use Sonic’s powers for global domination.
The vibe was strong from the start: in its opening weekend, it raked in $58 million domestically, beating the $54.3 million record previously held by Pokémon Detective Pikachu.
Sonic also has an ace up his sleeve: the film still hasn’t been released in Japan and is not due to hit screens there until March 27 (however, its Chinese release – a key location in the video game movie market – has been delayed due to coronavirus concerns).
Paramount PicturesAs for where it stands on the overall worldwide box office table for video game movies, it’s currently positioned in 12th. Atop the throne sits Warcraft, the merciless snooze-fest based on the classic PC game, which made a whopping $439 million (despite a low yield in the US).
Pokémon Detective Pikachu follows closely behind with $433 million, followed by Rampage with $428 million, The Angry Birds Movie on $352.3 million and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time with $336.4 million.
Critics have been relatively warm on Sonic the Hedgehog, with Johnny Oleksinski of the New York Post writing: ‘If the title makes you wince, know the movie is a lot better than it deserves to be. You’ll actually care about what happens to the prickly blue dude, even if you never cared about getting to zone seven.’
Paramount PicturesLondon Evening Standard’s Charlotte O’Sullivan wrote: ‘The world contains many terrible video game movies. This isn’t one of them.’
It currently sits at 64% on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the third-highest-rated video game movie of all time behind the recent Pokémon film and The Angry Birds Movie 2.
Sonic the Hedgehog is in UK cinemas now.
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.