‘Sonic The Hedgehog’ Officially Becomes Highest Grossing Video Game Movie

It’s not a great time to be in the movie business. One theater after another is closing its doors temporarily because of the coronavirus outbreak. Several companies are having to adapt in order to make any money at all. Perhaps the last blockbuster of this era, Bloodshot is even releasing digitally just a little over 10 days after it hit theaters. Despite those issues, one movie has managed to make plenty of cash and then some: Sonic the Hedgehog officially became the highest-grossing video game movie of all time this week.

In taking the top spot, Sonic managed to knock Detective Pikachu off its perch. Rotten Tomatoes posted the news on its official Instagram page. The site reports Sonic has surpassed $145 million since its release worldwide last month.

Paramount’s movie, based on the popular Sega video game character, owes a great deal of its success to hitting theaters before the coronavirus crippled the globe. However, it did release on Valentine’s Day in the U.S., meaning the world was well aware of the virus and some countries, most notably China, had already begun taking extreme precautions.

There was a time when few people thought Sonic the Hedgehog would be able to get off the ground. When the film’s take on the character was introduced in early 2019, there was widespread outcry about his appearance. Fans of the alien rodent thought the movie version looked “creepy” and a bit too human.

That outcry prompted the studio to announce it was going back to the drawing board and redesigning Sonic to look more like the video game character fans recognized and loved. When Sonic was reintroduced, the same fans gave the creators props for adjusting the design and making it closer to what they felt he should look like.

Not only were fans happy, but critics have also largely given the movie positive reviews. The film, which blends live action with animation, has a score of 64 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, with an audience score through the roof at 93 percent. It’s also gotten a Cinemascore of ‘A.’

It’s not yet known whether the studio has plans to cash in on Sonic the Hedgehog‘s success at the box office by going the Bloodshot route and bringing the film to digital ahead of schedule. Studios around the world have been changing up how they deliver content that’s already completed while pushing back the launch date of other titles that were slated to hit the big screen this spring.