‘Detective Pikachu’ Cinematographer Is Happy He Turned Down ‘Sonic The Hedgehog’

Unless you’ve been living under a nostalgia repellent rock for the past few days, you’ve heard by now about the controversy surrounding the trailer for the live-action Sonic The Hedgehog film. The cinematographer for the upcoming Pokémon film, Detective Pikachu, was once attached to Sonic and shared his feelings on the trailer and seems to be happy that he turned the project down.

Sega’s long-time mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog, has really been dragged through the mud this past week. Following the debut of the trailer of Sonic The Hedgehog, the internet tore the design of the live-action Sonic to pieces. The criticism was so bad and loud that the director of Sonic The Hedgehog has even come out and said that they are going to rework Sonic’s design prior to the release of the film.

Another nineties video game franchise making its entrance into live-action films this year is Pokémon with Detective Pikachu. The cinematographer of Detective Pikachu, John Mathieson, was actually offered to work on Sonic The Hedgehog and ended up going with Detective Pikachu instead. And it seems like he is very satisfied with that choice after seeing what’s become of the film.

Speaking to Newsweek, Mathieson had this to say about Sonic The Hedgehog:

Funny enough, I was offered [Sonic the Hedgehog] and after watching the trailer I thought I’m so glad we don’t look like that. If all we’re talking about is how these two films look, our film is better than Sonic the Hedgehog and I’m sorry, I don’t care who I upset by saying that, but I think it looks better. There’s no reason why you can’t shoot a film like [Detective Pikachu] or Sonic the Hedgehog on film. If you had, [Sonic the Hedgehog] would look more realistic. I look at Sonic the Hedgehog and I just go ‘yeah whatever.’

Do you think the studios will be able to fix Sonic The Hedgehog or has the first trailer doomed the film? Let us know your reaction to the design in the comments down below!

Check out the synopsis for Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog here:

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG is a live-action adventure comedy based on the global blockbuster video game franchise from Sega that centres on the infamously brash bright blue hedgehog. The film follows the (mis)adventures of Sonic as he navigates the complexities of life on Earth with his newfound – human – best friend Tom Wachowski (James Marsden). Sonic and Tom join forces to try and stop the villainous Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) from capturing Sonic and using his immense powers for world domination.

Directed by Jeff Fowler from a script written by Patrick Casey, Josh Miller, and Oren Uziel, Sonic the Hedgehog features the voice talent of Ben Schwartz as the titular character and stars James Marsden as sheriff Tom Wachowski, Jim Carrey as Dr. Ivo Robotnik, Neal McDonough as US Army Major Bennington, Tika Sumpter as Mrs. Wachowski, Lee Majdoub as Stone, and Frank C. Turner as Crazy Carl. Adam Pally, Natasha Rothwell, Debs Howard, and Elfina Luk also star in undisclosed roles.

Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog will be released in theaters on November 8, 2019.

Pokemon: Detective Pikachu will be released in theaters on May 10, 2019.

Source: Newsweek