It’s no secret that movies based on video games haven’t had the best track record over the years, but earlier this year, Sonic the Hedgehog managed to become one of the few successes in that realm. As a result, Paramount Pictures officially gave the green light to Sonic the Hedgehog 2 a few months back, and now the plan is to deliver the sequel by April 8, 2022.
To commemorate Sonic the Hedgehog 2 receiving a release date, Ben Schwartz, the voice of Sega’s super speedy protagonist, shared an amusing Twitter video concerning some Sonic advertising he passed by one time at an airport. Check it out:
Wow, that is one long hallway! Was Ben Schwartz caught in a Palm Springs-style time loop? No, he was just somewhere deep within LAX where the Sonic the Hedgehog advertising on the wall never… seemed… to end. Schwartz even had to move his camera a few times to allow people to pass by him on the moving walkway before pointing back at those lengthy banners showing off Sonic himself and his nemesis, Jim Carrey’s Dr. Robotnik.
Now that Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is on the calendar, Paramount needs to step up its LAX advertising game for the sequel. In other words, the studio needs to find an even longer hallway within that airport for not just more banners, but banners that advertise more than two characters. Of course, then Ben Schwartz will need to track down those banners and shoot an even longer video next to them, but at least then the Sonic franchise would have a new marketing tradition.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2’s release date was announced last week as Paramount reshuffled some of its upcoming movies, which included moving both A Quiet Place: Part II and Top Gun: Maverick to next year. Whether or not Sonic 2 will hold onto that April slot or if it’ll be pushed back at some point, Paramount is clearly keen on keeping the eponymous character’s cinematic journey going. Still, with the way things are in the world are right now, one shouldn’t expect the sequel to begin filming anytime soon.
Along with Ben Schwartz and Jim Carrey, Sonic the Hedgehog’s cast included James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Lee Majdoub, Natasha Rothwell, Melody Nosipho, Adam Pally and Neal McDonough. Critically speaking, Sonic was met with mixed-to-positive critical reception, ranking at 63% among professional critics on Rotten Tomatoes, while the audience score is an impressive 93%.
As for commercially, while the current health crisis cut short Sonic the Hedgehog’s full theatrical run, it still managed to collect over $306 million worldwide, and now ranks as the highest-grossing film adaptation of a video game of all time domestically (last year’s Detective Pikachu still holds the worldwide record in that category). Sonic is also the second highest-grossing movie of 2020 due to the lack of new theatrical releases since mid-March, with Bad Boys for Life taking the #1 spot.
Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates on Sonic the Hedgehog 2 as they trickle in, and don’t forget to scan through our 2020 release schedule to learn what movies are supposed to come out late this year.
