How Paramount’s Big Bet on ‘Sonic’ Is Paying Off With Dual Movie and Streaming Plans
With a third film and a spinoff series already greenlit, Paramount is proving that theatrical and streaming goals don’t have to be at odds
Before “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” was even released, Paramount announced to investors that it was betting big on the Blue Blur by greenlighting a third “Sonic” movie and a Paramount+ spinoff series. This weekend’s launch at the box office shows that bet is paying off.
The sequel to Paramount’s 2020 Sega adaptation earned a domestic opening weekend of $71 million, a start matching that of the Marvel Studios film “Eternals” last November, while adding $70 million from two weekends of overseas release for a $141 million global start. With that result, “Sonic 2” passes its predecessor for the largest opening ever for a video game adaptation and also passes the $67.9 million opening of the 2003 comedy “Bruce Almighty” to become the biggest opening for Jim Carrey, who plays the evil Dr. Eggman in the sequel.
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Bringing Sonic to the big screen was an endeavor Paramount took up under the leadership of former CEO Jim Gianopulos, creating a new IP for a studio in desperate need of it. Now after going through the pandemic and a leadership shuffle, Paramount and its new CEO Brian Robbins will look to build their new franchise across both theaters and streaming.
Fortunately for the studio, the “Sonic” team of director Jeff Fowler and writers Pat Casey and Josh Miller have shown they know how to give the fans what they want. The first “Sonic” ended with a tease of the arrival of Sonic’s buddy Tails, while Carrey’s Eggman got a new look that more closely resembled his video game counterpart.
“Sonic 2” not only pays off both of those teases for fans — with the bonus of Tails’ voice actor Colleen O’Shaughnessey reprising her role — but got a boost by inclduing another favorite, Knuckles the Echidna, who has built even more social media buzz for the film thanks to Idris Elba’s performance.
Knuckles has become such a breakout star that he could be to Paramount+ what John Cena’s Peacemaker was to HBO Max as the upcoming streaming spinoff will be based around the red warrior.
Coupled with this approach to the sequel was a marketing campaign that appealed to both families and gamers, with YouTube interviews between kids and the film’s characters alongside trailer debuts at The Game Awards and posters that directly referenced those for the original Sega Genesis video games.
“I would compare what Paramount did marketing ‘Sonic’ to the marketing for ‘Deadpool,’” Comscore’s Paul Dergarabedian told . “Obviously they’re different films, but both were marketed in a way that was both proactive and interactive with fans, creating a loyalty with them and a trust that these films would be faithful to the spirit of these characters that they love.”
Paramount
With that goodwill established and more Mobians soon to join Sonic and his crew, this series has found a way to keep fans excited and hungry for more… something that other family films like Warner Bros.’ “The Lego Movie” and Sony/Rovio Animation’s “The Angry Birds Movie” were unable to do with their sequel attempts. Already, the hype is building up for “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” thanks to a mid-credits scene teasing the arrival of Shadow the Hedgehog, a villain-turned-antihero in the Sega games who serves as both a foil and intense rival to Sonic.
With three decades’ worth of characters and games to reference, the “Sonic” series has plenty of material to keep the hype going among fans; and just as important, the trio of Fowler, Casey and Miller have hit the sweet spot of making films that win over families while building loyalty with fans by showing their understanding of what makes the game franchise so popular.
Whether that will be enough to make “Sonic” as long-lasting a franchise for Paramount as “Transformers” remains to be seen — not every character is as popular as Tails and Knuckles — but this much is clear: Exhibitors have another example they can cite when arguing that studios should pursue a model that unites theatrical and streaming rather than pit them against each other, as a hit series that began in theaters will soon be used to try to get Paramount+ a bigger foothold in the battle for streaming subscribers.
“The notion that the big and small screens are additive and complementary is being proven by what Paramount is doing,” Dergarabedian said. “They’re not siloing off the theatrical and streaming sections of the studio, using a film that is tailor-made for cinema to also increase interest in what they’re offering at home.”
