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ENTERTAINMENT

‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ Release Delayed in China Due to Coronavirus

By Dave McNary

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Paramount has pushed back the China release of “Sonic the Hedgehog,” which was originally set to debut in the country on Feb. 28, due to concerns over the growing coronavirus epidemic..

Cinemas in China are indefinitely closed due to the crisis. The studio made the announcement Monday, saying, “Due to the current situation, the China release date of the film ‘’ 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,” Paramount added. “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.”
China has been rocked by the coronavirus outbreak. There have been 77,150 cases reported in the world’s most populous nation. The death toll has reached 2,592, China’s National Health Commission said Monday.

“Sonic the Hedgehog” has outperformed expectations since it opened on Feb. 14 with about $106 million in its first two weeks in North America and another $96 million from international markets.

The live-action and CGI hybrid follows the world’s fastest hedgehog teaming up with his new best friend Tom Wachowski (James Marsden) to defend the planet from the evil Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey). Reviews have been mostly positive, generating a 64% on Rotten Tomatoes. Originally slated to premiere on Nov. 8, 2019, the film suffered a fan backlash over the design of Sonic, prompting Paramount and director Jeff Fowler to delay the release to re-design the main character.

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