In what marked an impressive turnaround for a movie that faced a huge wave of backlash from fans when the terrifying original design for the title character was first revealed, leading to a lengthy delay in order to make sure that he wasn’t the stuff of nightmares, Sonic the Hedgehog went on to become one of the most successful video game adaptations in history after it hit theaters in February.
Not only is it the highest-grossing video game movie ever released in the United States and sixth most lucrative overall, but it’s also one of just two that have ever received a Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes alongside Detective Pikachu, and still ranks as the second biggest box office hit of 2020 behind only Bad Boys For Life after raking in $306 million globally, a number that would have no doubt been much higher had it not been released in the key Chinese and Japanese markets in the middle of a pandemic.
Sonic has also proved to be a big hit on home video after being released on VOD just six weeks after it first hit theaters, and a sequel was recently given the official green light, which will look to pick up where the two post-credits scenes left off.
Now, in a further effort to test the waters and see how close audiences are to embracing a full-scale return to the movies, Paramount have announced that Sonic the Hedgehog will be speeding back into select theaters in the United States and Canada.
#SonicMovie is back in select theatres in the US and Canada for a limited time! https://t.co/Vz5NGjdkwq pic.twitter.com/qIiWAe4imh
— Sonic the Hedgehog (@SonicMovie) August 21, 2020
While we’re still a long way away from things getting back to normal, AMC revealed that heavily discounted tickets had seen their reopening plan at limited capacity sell out completely, and while Sonic the Hedgehog isn’t the movie that will lead to screens being packed once again, there are still hugely encouraging signs of life for an industry that many were predicting the worst for just a couple of months ago.
