Though the live-action
Sonic the Hedgehog movie arrived in theatres on February 14th for most of the world, it hasn't yet debuted in China. The video game movie would have debuted on February 28th within that region but it has unfortunately been delayed on account of concerns to do with the Coronavirus outbreak.
For the unaware; the currently widespread Coronavirus outbreak began in December and originated in China. However, the disease has since managed to reach other countries through human-to-human transmission. Thus far, over 80,000 cases of COVID-19 have been tallied up. About 12,000 of those cases are considered serious and almost 3,000 have sadly been fatal.
Suffice it to say, the concern is warranted. The live-action Sonic the Hedgehog movie will arrive in Chinese theatres at a later date — though they haven't announced that later date just yet. The Chinese branch of Paramount Pictures has released a statement in regards to their decision to delay the theatrical release — and you can read through that below (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!