By Following their success with the two “Sonic the Hedgehog” films along with the animated series “Sonic Prime” on Netflix, SEGA is looking to expand its plans for game-to-screen adaptations.
“Sonic the Hedgehog” hit cinemas in 2020 and grossed almost $320 million at the box office – even with the pandemic hobbling its haul somewhat. Last year’s sequel generated over $405 million globally.
They tied to a surge in Sonic interest with games such as “Sonic Frontiers,” “Sonic Superstars” and the “Sonic Origins” collection along with the aforementioned Netflix series and merchandise expansions including LEGO this year.
In an interview with CNBC (via VGC) this week, SEGA’s chief operating officer Shuji Utsumi says company’s recent success with the Sonic IP both within and outside of the gaming world has led to them considering others they own for similar expansions:
“We just revived Sonic in a big way, not only through games but also remember movies and TV shows, and actually Sonic is in Roblox too, and we’re working closely now with Lego, so now Sonic is reviving.
We have other major IPs and also, I cannot say too much about it, but we are thinking of reviving other classical Sega IPs too.
Right now, there are two big IPs other than Sonic. One is Persona. We are introducing two Personas this year. And also, our Yakuza title. I mean, Yakuza is really unique, but that big one [“Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth”] is also coming next year too, so be ready.
But also, as I say, we are trying to be in a lot of different kinds of businesses, additional areas, like Roblox and movies. All these IPs can be somewhere else other than games soon.”
SEGA isn’t slouching on Sonic either, with a third film scheduled for release in December 2024, and a live-action TV series starring Knuckles set to debut before then sometime next year.
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