Earlier this month, the live-action
Sonic the Hedgehog movie finally arrived in theatres — in most places. However, it was set to debut in China on February 28th. This is no longer the case and it's because of the currently widespread and concerning outbreak of the Coronavirus — known officially as COVID-19.
If you're unfamiliar, COVID-19 started doing the rounds in December and has been active since. It originated in Wuhan, China but has escaped to other countries via human-to-human transmission. There have been over eighty-thousand official cases of the disease and almost three-thousand of them have been fatal. However, thirty-thousand people have been able to recover.
Paramount Pictures has released an official statement regarding their decision to delay the live-action
Sonic the Hedgehog movie's theatrical release in China. They mention a new release date will be announced in the future but obvioulsy hasn't yet been disclosed (via
Gamefragger).
Dear friends,
Due to the current coronavirus situation, the China release date of the film Sonic the Hedgehog will be postponed, and we will re-announce the new release date at a later time.
Sonic will only be slowing down his pace temporarily, and we look forward to bringing him zooming onto the big screen in China once it is appropriate to do so.
As the whole country and world unite together to fight the outbreak of coronavirus, we would like to express our gratitude and respect to all the medical staff, the rescue personnel, and people in service who provide us with much-needed assistance and support during this time.
Sonic the Hedgehog is a live-action adventure comedy based on the global blockbuster videogame franchise from Sega that centers 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. The film also stars Tika Sumpter and Ben Schwartz as the voice of Sonic.
Sonic the Hedgehog is in theatres now!