It's been a long-running gag in Hollywood that video game adaptations are guaranteed to be critical and/or commercial failures. Whether it's lack of faithfulness to the source material, poorly rendered CGI or bad writing and characterization, video games are the only thing Hollywood seems incapable of turning into box office gold. Recently, though, video game films have been on an upward trend. Last year saw the release of two well-received video game adaptations: Detective Pikachu and The Angry Birds Movie 2. And the forward progress continued with the release of Sonic the Hedgehog.

Not only did the film receive generally favorable reviews, but it also set an opening weekend record for a video game adaptation. In fact, Sonic the Hedgehog already the most successful movie based on a video game ever. However, the film's big achievements might not have happened if it hadn't gone through some serious changes before release.

It all started when a teaser poster for the film debuted in December 2018 featuring a silhouette of Sonic. The poster got a negative reaction due to the changes made to the character's design from the games. Fans were quick to point out that the movie version's oddly muscular legs, smaller sneakers and realistic fur were a huge turn-off. The full design was eventually leaked online a few months later, leading to even more backlash due to the character's smaller eyes, human teeth and lack of gloves, which made his hands look disturbingly realistic. Even the original Sonic creators and character designers were shocked at the movie's version of their creation. Online reactions to Sonic would only get worse from there.

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In April 2019, Paramount released the first trailer for the film, confirming Sonic's humanoid design and drawing immediate backlash from both critics and fans. The trailer was immediately disliked by many not just for Sonic's uncanny design, but also for the unfunny jokes, changes to Sonic's origin story and the use of Coolio's song "Gangsta's Paradise." The trailer soon went viral, with millions of views and thousands of dislikes pouring in each day. Sonic fans were fervent in their campaign to both Paramount and director Jeff Fowler to delay the film so that Sonic's design could be changed to look more like the character in the video games.

Recognizing the fervent fan backlash, Fowler confirmed on Twitter that the film was going to be delayed until February 2020 to make the changes that fans wanted. He then thanked them for their feedback and promised, "Everyone at Paramount & Sega are fully committed to making this character the BEST he can be." Fans breathed a huge sigh of relief at this development, and felt vindicated that the movie's filmmakers were listening to them. Even Yuji Naka, the co-creator of Sonic, thanked fans for being so passionate in their redesign campaign.

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In November 2019, a new trailer with a redesigned Sonic was released and fans responded much more positively. The cartoonish look of the character and more lighthearted tone of the trailer gave fans hope that the film would deliver a fun adventure akin to the games. But the positive reaction goes beyond just getting a better-looking movie, it also established a rare trust between a director and the audience that many films and franchises don't have.

In an industry that adapts everything into a movie and makes numerous changes to characters and plots in the process -- often, much to the fans dismay -- Sonic The Hedgehog was the rare instance where the team behind the adaptation took fans' input into account and went out of their way to create something that fans felt truly was for them and not just for general audiences. This made the fans want to go see the movie even more, and this loyalty and enthusiasm is partially what delivered a record-breaking opening for the film.

There are several other video-game adaptations coming out in the future, including a Mortal Kombat reboot and the long-delayed Uncharted film. With any luck, the success of Sonic will lead the makers of these films to be more aware of what the fans truly want and adjust their films accordingly.

Now in theaters, director Jeff Fowler's Sonic the Hedgehog stars Ben Schwartz as Sonic and Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik, with James Marsden, Neal McDonald, Tika Sumpter, Adam Pally and Natasha Rothwell.

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