Sonic the Hedgehog (film)

Sonic the Hedgehog is a computer-animated adventure film based on the video game franchise of the same name by Sega. It was released February 14, 2020 by 20th Century Fox to critical acclaim.

Development
Development for a film adaptation based on the Sonic the Hedgehog video games began in late 1999, during the development of Sonic Adventure 2. Sega, recently acquired by Microsoft, attempted to develop film franchises from its properties, including Sonic the Hedgehog and Jet Set Radio. Sega CEO Tom Kalinske, however, was wary of damaging the brand, citing the commercial and critical failures of the Super Mario Bros. and Street Fighter films. Despite Kalinske's concerns, Sega was enthusiastic about a film adaptation of Sonic, cancelling other Sega film adaptations.

Initially, the film adapation was shopped around to Warner Bros. Pictures and Universal Pictures in 2001. However, Warner Bros did not accept Sega's offer, since they had an adaptation deal with Electronic Arts (who now has an adaptation contract with Touchstone Pictures) and Namco. Universal intially accepted, with Blue Sky Studios handling the animation. However, this was quickly dropped on May 14, 2002, due to budget concerns.

In June 1999, 20th Century Fox launched 20th Century Fox Visual Animation (now Marza Animation Planet), and were looking for scripts to develop into feature films. In 2000, the studio picked up The Incredibles, a film by Brad Bird, after it was rejected by Disney.

After being rejected by Paramount Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Sega of America (and parent company Microsoft), approached Fox with a treatment written by James Cameron, Chris Wedge, and Lord and Miller. Fox agreed to finance the film with a $70 million budget, directed by Wedge and produced at TCF Visual, slated for a summer 2006 release date. Due to creative differences, Wedge left the project in late 2002. In 2004, James Cameron left the project. The film was ultimately scrapped in 2005 due to the film having losing key creative talent, as well as resturcturing at TCF Visual into Marza Animation Planet. Lord and Miller continued to write potential outlines of a Sonic film between 2006 and 2008, as well as 2011 to 2013, when Lord and Miller were hired to produce the 2020 Sonic adaptation.

In 2014, Bill Mechanic, chief executive officer of 20th Century Fox at the time, announced that a Sonic film was in development under Lord Miller Productions, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller's company, and that the film would release between 2018 and 2021. The film would be produced by Marza Animation Planet, where Lord and Miller were already working on The Lego Movie, with financing by Regency Enterprises.

Release
Sonic the Hedgehog was initially scheduled for May 11, 2019 by 20th Century Fox; however in December 2018, the studio rescheduled the film to February 14, 2020 to avoid competition with Avengers: Endgame.

The film was simultaneously released to cinemas and home media on February 14, 2020.

Box office
, Sonic the Hedgehog has grossed $407.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $1.353 billion in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1.76 billion, making it the highest grossing animated film of all time.