Minecraft Director Looking to Avoid “Ugly Sonic” Mistakes with Jason Momoa Movie

Director Jared Hess has taken on the task of directing the live-action Minecraft movie, and he wants to avoid any and all “ugly Sonic situations” with his take on the popular video game.

During a chat with The Salt Lake Tribune, courtesy of Eurogamer, Hess referenced the ‘Ugly Sonic’ debacle when making it clear that he does not want to disappoint the game’s young fans when they finally see the game brought to life:

Sonic’s Original Design for the 2020 Film Garnered Mass Backlash From Fans

In case anyone has forgotten, the ‘Ugly Sonic’ situation came about when the original design for the Sonic The Hedgehog appeared online in the first trailer for the 2020 film. The trailer was met with mass negative criticism when the design of the popular comic book character gave him almost human-looking eyes and teeth, which no one wanted to see. In this instance, the backlash was so strong that the team went back to the drawing board – literally – and redesigned the character, making him look more like the video game icon that the fans all know and love.

Revisiting the design for the character certainly paid off for Sonic The Hedgehog when it was released to a robust box office, grossing $319.7 million globally. Sonic The Hedgehog 2 followed in 2022 and proved to be even more successful, taking in a worldwide total of $405.4 million. Sonic The Hedgehog 3 is slated for release at the end of the year.

In one of those strange twists, though, that initial trailer was not the end of the road for “Ugly” Sonic, as he unexpectedly turned up for a few hilarious appearances in another movie, Chip & Dale: Rescue Rangers. The live-action comedy saw the original version of Sonic brought ot life once more, selling his own merchandise at a ComicCon event in the film, and even becoming an integral part of the plot. So even ugly Sonics can have their day eventually.

Hess seems more than ready to take on the daunting task of adapting Minecraft for the big screen. In fact, the director admits that it is this challenge that attracted him to the project:

“Trying to adapt something that doesn’t have a story – it’s an open sandbox game…I like the challenge. There’s got to be a fun, ridiculous movie here. And there is.”

Minecraft is an adaptation of the 3D survival sandbox game of the same name. The game has become the best-selling video game in history with over 300 million copies sold and nearly 140 million monthly active players. While the actual plot has not been revealed, the live-action film stars Jason Momoa, Danielle Brooks, Jack Black, Emma Myers, Sebastian Eugene Hansen, and recent Emmy Award winner Jennifer Coolidge, who was just announced as a recent addition to the cast.