Detective Pikachu recently released and proved to be a hit amongst fans for the most part. Before its release, its trailers were successful in elevating fans' anticipation of the live-action
Pokemon film. This cannot be said for the
Sonic the Hedgehog movie. The first trailer for the iconic, blue speedster's live-action movie currently stands at almost 700k dislikes on YouTube.
The backlash against the film became so extreme that the film's director announced that they would be changing Sonic's design in the film on account of the negative reception. This will obviously prove to be a detriment to the film itself. When it releases in November of this year, it will not prove successful at the box office. At least that's what these analysts predict.
A recent article by
Fortune featured two box office analysts who explained why
Sonic the Hedgehog will not prove successful, while
Detective Pikachu did.
Jeff Bock, senior box office analyst for Exhibitor Relations, said that the Sonic the Hedgehog movie appears to be yet another case of the video-game-movie curse and audiences recognise that as the case.
“Sonic reminds you of all the bad video game adaptations that have been put out. The fact that they got it all wrong here on their first swing is a bad sign.”
Bock further explained that the film should aim to appeal to the franchise's existing fanbase.
“To be successful, you need to take a page from Marvel and really appease the hardcore fan. It doesn’t seem like the people that made this really understand or love the property.” This can't be said about
Detective Pikachu, however, as video essayist Patrick Willems explains.
The amount of detail specific to the property that’s packed into every corner of the frame, it really feels like it’s made by people who love Pokémon…which hardcore fans will appreciate.
Gitesh Pandya, an editor for BoxOfficeGuru.com, continued that sentiment. Pandya first explained that, while Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu will draw in audiences, Jim Carrey (who plays the villainous Doctor Robotnik) will not. “Jim Carrey is not the box office powerhouse he used to be." The editor then talked about another strength of the Pokemon movie which Sonic is lacking:
It seems like they have the world of Pokémon and are telling a story within that world, rather than trying to take the structure of a video game and applying it to a two hour film.