Ben Schwartz, the voice of Sonic in the upcoming theatrical film, was surprised by the hedgehog's passionate fanbase. Releasing Valentine's Day, Sonic the Hedgehog has been anticipated among fans. It is the first Hollywood adaption of the iconic video game character, bringing him to life alongside Dr. Robotnik.

By now, Sonic the Hedgehog's development has reached almost legendary status. Fans ridiculed the original trailer last April, with pretty much all the criticism leveled at Sonic's design. Although Paramount has since removed the trailer, the dislikes on the video were astounding. In an unprecedented move, the film was delayed so Sonic's design could be tweaked. The update was revealed in a new trailer a few months ago. In an almost complete 180, many fans were now onboard with the movie. It takes a truly dedicated fanbase to compel a company to delay a film. This intense dedication surprised Ben Schwartz and the team.

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In an interview with Buzzfeed, Ben Schwartz goes over Sonic the Hedgehog's development, discussing the film's original test video, the dedicated fanbase, and getting to work with Jim Carrey. Check out the full interview below.

One interesting thing to note is that Schwartz says Sonic's redesign is how the voice actor pictured it while recording. Fans may be happy to know the film "lends itself" to a sequel, and that Jim Carrey would be up for returning. Of course, as Schwartz notes, it's up to the fans now if a sequel is put into development.

How well Sonic the Hedgehog does critically and financially will be interesting to see. The fanbase was vocal enough to get the design changed, but will this translate to massive ticket sales? At the very least, now that the company has demonstrated goodwill, there should be more longtime fans driving up to the theater. The film's opening box office was tracking lower than Detective Pikachu's. This isn't surprising, because Sonic had to deal with all that negative pre-reception, while there was almost always positive reception during the road to Detective Pikachu's release. Sonic the Hedgehog doesn't seem likely to open too massively, but if there's good word-of-mouth and reviews, the film should do well. All of this is up in the air, of course. Sonic could very well open big, and go on to make $1 billion, revolutionizing video game movies. Time will tell.

Sonic the Hedgehog will be released on February 14.

Source: Buzzfeed

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