Sonic Live Action Movie Thread (Read OP for topic rules) "Trailer 2 on Page 482)

[Blueknight V2.0]

3 hours ago, Dr. Detective Mike said:

Angry Birds Movie grossing over 353 million worldwide on a budget of 73 million while being animated

Plus it became the highest grossing video game film of all time, breaking Prince of Persia's record. Of course that was until warcraft came along and took Angry Birds out of that spot.

4 hours ago, CaptainRobo said:

I think it's safe to say that the trailer will release sometime in the Spring. It's probably too early for them to release a trailer this month.  Probably will be releasing next month or April or May. The movie is going to be releasing in the Fall. So, that time might be a good time.

Oh, BTW, SXSW respond to a question about the trailer.:

 

I'm thinking the trailer may release in May with pikachu's movie. Seeing as all the cross-over promoting the two characters have had since that SSBU trailer released. So it'd make sense if that was the case.

[Dr. Detective]

3 hours ago, Scritch the Cat said:

A few things to note:

First, I'm quite certain Angry Birds is better known than Assasin's Creed.  I wouldn't be surprised if more adults play it than children, given it's on platforms used for other things than just playing games and is pitched to more people than just stereotypical gamers.  But even if said adults normally preferred live-action movies, they'd probably consider a live-action adaptation of Angry Birds to be absurd.  

Oh really? You don't say. So the context behind the Angry Birds movie made it a different situation, just like the point I was making. Interesting.

Yeah. So once again. Animated or not, different circumstances are what drives a movie to be successful.

3 hours ago, Scritch the Cat said:

Second, for what this is worth I think a live-action Mario could have worked if only the human characters were the only live-actors, they wore their signature outfits more, and the none-human characters were more accurate looking puppets or computer models.

I do not. 

Even if they had tried to play it up as something more obviously absurd, it still most likely would have come off more like a parody or a spoof movie rather than an actual Mario movie. Illumination is doing a new one and that's going to be animated and I'll bet you anything it'll be a huge success too. Why? Because Illumination is a freaking monster that promotes the fuck out of their movies to an obscene, annoying degree. They're gonna plaster that fucking plummers face all over every poster, mug, IHOP pancakes deal, and coaster they can get their hands on and make me real goddamn sick of seeing him before the movie is even out.

 

[Tarnish]

8 hours ago, Jack the Shadow said:

Rachet & Clank got a CGI movie right? I believe that flopped, MLP also had an animated movie and failed too. Sonic just isn't that big of a name alone IMO, he is not Mario or Spiderman who sell based on the name, Sonic needs the guys behind Deadpool, Fast and Furious, James Marsden and Jim Carrey to have attention. I know it's sad but it's the thruth. A movie for the big screen needs... you know, big names. This is why an animated feature would be a better fit for TV.

Was Ratchet & Clank ever on the same level of popularity and considered a cultural icon as Sonic? I'm not a hardcore gamer, but I heard of Crash Bandicoot, Tomb Raider and Resident Evil a hell of a lot more than about Ratchet & Clank. So I would put that more on the fact that the source material was never that popular to begin with.

But I will always appreciate the fact they put the fans first more than hiring big names to gut the franchise from its soul, identity and character and pull the remaining hollow husk on whatever is popular at the time to cash in as much as possible.

And if you mean the 2017 MLP movie, apparently that made $61.3 million  on a $6.5 million budget, so at the end of the day it was profitable.

[Tornado]

8 hours ago, Jack the Shadow said:

Rachet & Clank got a CGI movie right? I believe that flopped,

It was also a confusingly marketed tie in film to a game remake that itself didn't have the most glowing reception among longtime fans.

8 hours ago, Jack the Shadow said:

MLP also had an animated movie and failed too.

If by "failed" you mean "grossed ten times it's budget and was well liked by audiences."

What does that franchise even have to do with anything?

8 hours ago, Jack the Shadow said:

Sonic just isn't that big of a name alone IMO, he is not Mario or Spiderman who sell based on the name, Sonic needs the guys behind Deadpool, Fast and Furious, James Marsden and Jim Carrey to have attention. I know it's sad but it's the thruth. A movie for the big screen needs... you know, big names.

It's nice to know that the only way a Sonic movie could work is if they go through a checklist like a particularly bankrupt DreamWorks film.

[Tarnish]

9 hours ago, PeterPancake said:

To make money. The same reason the games are made or any product is made.

Kind of pointing out the obvious there. The thing is tho, there's a difference between making something with talent, passion and a good vision that people actually want vs making something without any real artistic merit solely for the purpose of cashing in on a brand name.

I'm sure the people behind Sonic Mania wanted to make money at the end of the day as well, but they still gave a damn about their product, and weren't just like "Well, Sonic sells so lets throw some random crap together and sell it to the suckers."

[Salamander]

10 hours ago, PeterPancake said:

To make money. The same reason the games are made or any product is made.

Your most revealing comment in the entire thread, really.  In this specific case, I happen to agree with you; this is a film which exists only to make money.

[Scritch the Cat]

19 minutes ago, FFWF said:

Your most revealing comment in the entire thread, really.  In this specific case, I happen to agree with you; this is a film which exists only to make money.

I can't help but wonder why they'd think now is the most profitable time to make money off of Sonic.  For some reason Paramount thought this was worth buying off of Sony, but I'm not sure why.

[Tarnish]

16 minutes ago, Scritch the Cat said:

I can't help but wonder why they'd think now is the most profitable time to make money off of Sonic.  For some reason Paramount thought this was worth buying off of Sony, but I'm not sure why.

Maybe they thought "Oh crap, better do it quick before Sonic is totally dead!"

[Myst]

13 minutes ago, Tarnish said:

Maybe they thought "Oh crap, better do it quick before Sonic is totally dead!"

I think Paramount signed a multi-picture deal with Neal Moritz's Original Film company in 2017.

After the Sonic movie went through development problems at Sony leading to the film rights to expire, Neal decided to pitch the idea to the president of Paramount, cutting together a quick 'pilot' of sorts to show what the movie would be. (Complete with Ben Schwartz as a stand-in for Sonic, who was later cast as the official voice because the production staff loved his performance) The President of Paramount liked it and gave it the greenlight.

Neal Moritz is either a closet Sonic fan, or saw massive potential for profit. Say what you will about the quality of recent games, Sonic still has a HUGE following of fans making fanfiction, fanart, fan characters, and even producing officially sanctioned Sega games. With several cartoons, toys and even a Macy's Parade float, Sonic is still very popular despite all of his recent failures. Creepy fanart and memes doesn't change a thing. He's still a timeless character that appeals to old and young.

[Red Hot Jack]

But who said this movie rips out the soul of Sonic? That's a big accusation and more like jumping to conclusions, when everything is still up in the air, they haven't released anything because it's too soon maybe, still, the teaser could be revealed any day now. I still think the silhouette isn't the best marketing, in fact it has done nothing but make the fans go in panic. And I really dislike the legs poster.

"Put the fans first" I already said this is a movie for everyone, AND then the fans. It's clear that this isn't Mania where eveything is done to appeal to old school fans. So just don't be surprised by what we're getting, not everything is centered around the fans. Paramount seems to be really satisfied with the movie, as well as the cast, it's likely because they work on it, I know… but it still makes me very curious to see what their fuss is about. I'm not being optimistic, just not super negative based on the absolute nothing we have seen. Is it a a plausible thought?

[CaptainRobo]

Since, Toy Factory is confirmed to make plushies for the movie. I wonder what other  companies could join as promotional partners for the movie?:

Maybe Progressive could make a commercial like this again.:

Also, maybe Sonic Drive-In could join too. They had Sonic’s favorite food. They could give away free chili dogs only available on the day the movie is released.:

Or maybe make a special kind of chili dog for the movie like they did for the last Transformers movie.:

I don’t know what other companies besides these two that I could think of sponsor the movie. That’s all I could think of.

[Myst]

Some United States Postal Service logos were spotted on set back in August, so there will probably be some TV adverts bragging about how packages travel at 'Sonic Speed' or something like that.

[Scritch the Cat]

30 minutes ago, Myst said:

Some United States Postal Service logos were spotted on set back in August, so there will probably be some TV adverts bragging about how packages travel at 'Sonic Speed' or something like that.

Wouldn't that be false-advertising?

[Tornado]

It also sounds like something I'd question the legality of.

[Nicky Nicardo]

5 hours ago, Jack the Shadow said:

But who said this movie rips out the soul of Sonic? That's a big accusation and more like jumping to conclusions, when everything is still up in the air, they haven't released anything because it's too soon maybe, still, the teaser could be revealed any day now. I still think the silhouette isn't the best marketing, in fact it has done nothing but make the fans go in panic. And I really dislike the legs poster.

Yeah, that accusation in particular is one that just seems incredibly overly dramatic to me personally. To me, nothing that I've seen so far is an obvious indication that the people behind the movie are 'ripping the soul' out of Sonic, or that they're making this movie purely to make money and not putting in any genuine talent, effort, or passion. I just don't get that from what I've seen at all. If other people come to that conclusion based on what's been revealed about the movie... y'know, fair enough, to each their own. I believe that someone can put genuine passion and talent behind something and come to an end product that's VASTLY different than what most fans would think of, and I believe that's what's happening here. I definitely wouldn't have thought up a live-action/CG hybrid buddy cop movie as my first choice when coming up with a Sonic movie... but it's not unfathomable that someone else, who's also a big fan of Sonic and knows about Sonic's history and video games and such, wouldn't come to such a conclusion. It's certainly strange... but Sonic's been in strange, wacky, weird settings and scenarios that seemed to come outta left field before, and I just went along with it because it wasn't that big of a deal to me. So far, based on the limited amount of content that's been released about this movie, it doesn't seem like they've strayed far enough or 'changed' enough for me to consider this a soulless cashgrab made by people who just don't care at all OR to consider this a total bastardization of Sonic as a character and a franchise. It'd take far more than making his body kinda muscular and lanky (which I still find weird admittedly, but not as much as others) and putting him in the real world with a human companion for me to think "Oh... yeah, that doesn't sound like Sonic at ALL. They've changed too much. This is totally unrecognizable as Sonic the Hedgehog."

[PeterPancake]

4 hours ago, Scritch the Cat said:

Wouldn't that be false-advertising?

..No

It's adverts paying the studio to put their service in the movie. It's called product placement. Every movie does this, especially high-profile blockbusters 

[Ryannumber1gamer]

30 minutes ago, PeterPancake said:

..No

It's adverts paying the studio to put their service in the movie. It's called product placement. Every movie does this, especially high-profile blockbusters 

I don't think ASM2 is a very good example given how widely mocked the movie is for it's blatant product placement of Sony products.

[AstroSeedP]

It's still unknown if USPS is actually sponsoring the movie. Those images had logos that were similar, but different from the actual USPS ones.

It might just be a stylistic choice, but it's uncertain yet.

 

[CaptainRobo]

Not news here, but here what’s Johnny Gioeli, the vocalist of Crush 40 had to say about the movie.:

SOAH: There’s a Sonic movie coming out later this year which has been in the works for a while. It looks quite interesting with established Hollywood actors on the project such as Ben Schwartz as the voice of Sonic and Jim Carrey as Dr. Eggman. Do you plan on seeing the movie when it’s released?

Johnny Gioeli: Absolutely! I’d like to get some Crush40 music in there!!!

Source: http://soahcity.com/2019/03/01/exclusive-interview-with-johnny-gioeli/

7 hours ago, Myst said:

Some United States Postal Service logos were spotted on set back in August, so there will probably be some TV adverts bragging about how packages travel at 'Sonic Speed' or something like that.

 

1 hour ago, BxB-Meister said:

It's still unknown if USPS is actually sponsoring the movie. Those images had logos that were similar, but different from the actual USPS ones.

It might just be a stylistic choice, but it's uncertain yet.

 

You mean this?

I actually made a comparison of the logos a while ago.:

 

[Gamecuber64]

Call me "negative" about this if you want (I don't care. It's just my OPINION), but if this movie goes horribly wrong or is at best, okay, I kind of hope that we get an animated adaptation film.

It just recently got announced with a trailer that we're getting a 3D CGi Pokémon anime film this Summer. I think if we we're to get an entirely CGi Marza Animation anime Sonic film, it would just be gorgeous.

Despite Marvel, Pikachu, Alita, etc., Animated adaptation films also tend to stay closer to their original roots while expanding on it impressively too. Has anyone else noticed that?

 

My only fear is that if this movie does poorly, SEGA is just going to give up on the idea of a Sonic movie, like every other thing they experiment with, even when it has MASSIVE potential. The only time I've ever seen this happen was with Sonic Boom Fire & Ice and Colors.

[Shaddy Zaphod]

A live-action version of a cartoon is inherently emblematic of not paying attention to what made that cartoon appealing, since such things are almost exclusively a visual medium first and foremost (and when not exclusively, it's for things much more down-to-Earth than Sonic the hedgehog). It should only make sense that starting with the premise of "live action" would leave them open to give even less of a shit about making it have anything to do with the franchise.

Anyway, the best we can reasonably hope to come from this mess is that we get some kind of a Smurfs Lost Village-type movie in response a few years later, that at least tries to be something set within the franchise it's supposed to be adapting and doesn't look like a complete "fuck you give us money" like this film does.

[PeterPancake]

The people involved behind the scenes ARE Sonic fans. Hell, several of them have actually WORKED on Sonic games. I wish people would stop pretending that Paramount pulled these guys out of their ass as some random, out of touch Hollywood execs to work on this movie. Jeff Fowler is as passionate as you're going to get 

 

[SaturnWolf]

Yeah, definitely, my hope is that Sonic will get the same grace Transformers did with BumbleBee or Dragon Ball did with literally anything but Evolution, a sorta "Sorry the last film sucked" type of apology.

[Scritch the Cat]

1 minute ago, DreamSaturn said:

Yeah, definitely, my hope is that Sonic will get the same grace Transformers did with BumbleBee or Dragon Ball did with literally anything but Evolution, a sorta "Sorry the last film sucked" type of apology.

I'm not convinced there's too much keeping Sega from intervening on this film's behalf, though.   The live-action/CGI format is inherently iffy, but even then I think Sega should have retained the rights to steer it more in a brand-loyal direction. Since I believe they could do this if they want, that in turn makes me think Sega just doesn't care and this film bombing might not make them start caring.  In fact, if Sega is still operating on their post-06 mindset of disowning ideas that failed while not really considering why they failed, this bombing might well make any sort of Sonic adaptation less likely.

[Multikaris]

10 minutes ago, Scritch the Cat said:

I'm not convinced there's too much keeping Sega from intervening on this film's behalf, though.   The live-action/CGI format is inherently iffy, but even then I think Sega should have retained the rights to steer it more in a brand-loyal direction. Since I believe they could do this if they want, that in turn makes me think Sega just doesn't care and this film bombing might not make them start caring.  In fact, if Sega is still operating on their post-06 mindset of disowning ideas that failed while not really considering why they failed, this bombing might well make any sort of Sonic adaptation less likely.

In addition, this "apology movie" isn't a guaranteed ticket to success, for instance, the Smurf franchise went dormant after The Lost Village, despite being rid of the contemporary setting and whatnot.