Sonic the Hedgehog director says character is getting makeover after backlash

In 2006, New Line Cinema added five days of reshoots for Snakes on a Plane, six months after principal filming had wrapped. The new shoots helped change the film’s rating from PG-13 to R, courtesy of, among other things, the addition of the line “I have had it with these motherf****** snakes on this motherf****** plane!”

It was an early and still one of the best known instances of a film being altered in post-production over internet consensus. The forthcoming Sonic the Hedgehog is likely still gunning for a family friendly rating.

Of course, the bizarre CGI take on the 90s character was one of dozens of glaring issues with the two-and-a-half-minute trailer, but it may well be the easiest to address without extensive reshoots. Certainly social media had no shortage of suggestions for how Sega and company could firmly remove Sonic’s feet from the furcanny valley — and hey, what’s a little post-production on top of a $90 million budget?

Jeff Fowler, who is making his feature film directorial debut with Sonic, took to Twitter to address the issue, noting, “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.”

Paramount has yet to offer an official statement on the matter, including whether such a move might impact release date. On the upside, there’s still some time, with the film not scheduled to arrive until November. And besides, the internet had plenty of suggestions on how Sonic could be improved. It always does.

The old adage among online writers is “never read the comments.” It’s a bit of self-preservation of one’s own sanity. And certainly it’s possible to be too responsive to an online fan base when creating a work of art, or whatever Sonic purports to be. But in the case of a decades-late film adaptation of a video, honestly, it might be for the best.

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