With the “Avengers” movies settling down after “Endgame” we are starting to see new franchises starting to pop up. With an Oscar winning “Bohemian Rhapsody” (didn’t really deserve that award IMO but I’ll address that later) we are now starting to see a wave of movies based on classic rock bands. There are also a slough of video game franchises being made into movies. One that we need to take note of is: Sonic the Hedgehog.
Everyone was a little concerned about it when the movie poster dropped that had the silhouette of the classic Sega hero. It just looked disproportionate. Then the trailer dropped.
It certainly wasn’t what everyone was expecting. In fact, it was so bad...fans wanted a remake. The crazy part of it all, they changed Sonics appearance.
Here’s my take on the pros and cons of the studios response to the fans.
Pros:. Because they were able to listen to fans, Paramount had the advantage of changing Sonic up so they could please their audience. The trailer now seems like a “soft launch” of the movie. Paramount wanted to see what fans actually thought of Sonic before getting serious with finishing up the movie. This could set a really high bar for other studios to really be keeping an ear to the ground so they please the fanbase. I mean, think how the 2011 Green Lantern movie would have been if they listened to fans about Hal Jordan's suit? This could ultimately create a relationship between fans and production studios that would create a fun way for fans to be involved in the movie making process. To me, that sounds a lot better than a bunch of executives who have no idea what these characters are calling the shots. Looking at it big picture, this could make a lot more money for the studios because they are tailoring their movies in a really creative way.
Cons: This creates a serious case of entitlement from the fans. Fans can be demanding at times and if they get away with it once then they will never stop trying to dictate how movie characters should look/act/sound. This creates more fuel for Twitter wars, Reddit complaint pages and angry YouTubers putting down movies before even seeing them. Plus, studios won't be able to please everyone. Take Sonic for example, what if a percentage wanted a specific cosmetic change that isn’t going to happen with the movie like a shorter nose or greener eyes? Those fans will feel ostracized because the studio isn’t “listening to them” the way that percentage wants to be listened to.
What are your thoughts on the change? Leave us a comment and don't forget to share with your friends!
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