An official Sonic the Hedgehog movie sequel announcement is likely once the coronavirus shutdown ends, according to box office analyst Jeff Bock. Released this past February, the first Sonic film proved to be the rare successful Hollywood video game adaptation. Earning mostly positive reviews, Sonic the Hedgehog broke box office records en route to grossing $306.7 million worldwide against an $85 million production budget. It fared much better than even the rosiest optimists expected, setting the stage for a full franchise Paramount could develop.
The studio was certainly confident in Sonic becoming a hit, seeing that the movie ended with a post-credits sequences teasing Tails’ role in a sequel. Director Jeff Fowler is excited for Sonic and Tails to team up in the next installment, but all’s been fairly quiet on the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 front recently. Of course, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic likely has something to do with that, and once Hollywood reopens for business, it’s believed Sonic 2 will be moving forward.
Speaking with USA Today, Bock stated he believes Sonic 2 is “imminent,” citing Paramount’s lack of viable tentpole properties:
“No doubt ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ is just getting started. A sequel is imminent for Paramount Studios, who desperately needs new franchises. I’d expect an announcement as soon as the world starts spinning in a direction we all recognize again. Video game adaptations are definitely hot properties again in Hollywood thanks to Sonic and his box office antics.”
Bock is on-point when he says Paramount could use some more cash cows. With the exception of the Mission: Impossible franchise, the studio has struggled of late. They released notable bombs (and franchise non-starters) Terminator: Dark Fate and The Rhythm Section, and even the Transformers brand has lost some of its box office clout. While Paramount continues to develop more Transformers films, the previous two installments (Terminator: The Last Knight and Bumblebee) also happen to be the lowest-grossing entries to date. More so than other studios, Paramount really needed a hit to reverse their fortunes, so Sonic arrived at the perfect time. At this point, it would be a surprise if Sonic 2 didn’t happen.
As for the timeline of the inevitable announcement, it makes sense for Paramount to hold off until things have returned to something resembling normalcy. While it’s true some new films have been announced since the shutdown started (see: Paramount developing Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark 2), there’s no real need to fast-track a Sonic the Hedgehog sequel right now. It’s unknown when it’ll be safe for studios to film projects again, so Paramount is better off just waiting for the time being. Again, everyone more or less expects Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will be made eventually, meaning the official confirmation will just be a formality… whenever it happens.
Source: Screenrant, by CHRIS AGAR