“Sonic the Hedgehog” opened big at the box office over Presidents Day weekend.
But when the first trailer dropped last spring, fans of the video game character launched an online attack against the movie version. They tweeted about being freaked out by how the hedgehog’s teeth and legs looked.
In an unprecedented move, director Jeff Fowler assured fans he’d get it right, even if that meant starting over and pushing the theatrical release from November 2019 to February 2020.
Thank you for the support. And the criticism. The message is loud and clear... you aren't happy with the design & you want changes. It's going to happen. Everyone at Paramount & Sega are fully committed to making this character the BEST he can be... #sonicmovie #gottafixfast 🔧✌️
— Jeff Fowler (@fowltown) May 2, 2019
Fowler’s move sounded like it wouldn’t work, but it did.
Before directing “Sonic,” Fowler worked at the effects house and production company Blur, run by Tim Miller, an executive producer on the film.
Miller spoke to us last fall about the bad box office performance for “Terminator: Dark Fate,” which also had its release date pushed. In this previously unreleased portion of that conversation, Miller talked about the online blowback for not just “Sonic,” but for his “Terminator” movie before that.