Sega's Sonic franchise nearly cancelled before 2020 movie revived it, says franchise boss

Sonic the Hedgehog series boss Takashi Iizuka told Tokyo Game Show attendees that Sega executives once wanted to cancel the entire Sonic franchise, and that he had to fight internally to keep it alive. He credited the 2020 live-action film, whose character redesign followed fan backlash, with proving continued demand and enabling sequels; the franchise has since sold over 1.5 billion copies worldwide.