Takashi Iizuka: Sega considered cutting Sonic before the 2020 film hit

According to Iizuka, the first live-action Sonic film from 2020 became a major turning point for the franchise. Coverage links the movie to roughly $320 million in revenue.

Iizuka also says the franchise is now 35 years old and that he has worked on more than 30 Sonic-related games. That makes him one of the longest-serving developers on the series.

What happened

Takashi Iizuka, who has worked on Sonic for decades, looked back on a period when Sega was reportedly unsure about the franchise’s future. He says executives once told him Sonic might need to be cut during one of the series’ toughest stretches. In the available reporting, this is not described as a formal Sega announcement, but as Iizuka’s recollection of an internal discussion about the brand’s direction.

Iizuka says he kept fighting inside Sega to keep Sonic alive for as long as possible. In the same reflection, he calls the first live-action Sonic film from 2020 a milestone that changed the franchise’s course. The film was released in 2020 and is linked in coverage to around $320 million in revenue. The available information does not fully clarify whether that figure refers to worldwide box office, but the movie is presented as a turning point for Sonic.

The timing of the comments lines up with Sonic’s 35th anniversary. In a separate anniversary message, Iizuka thanked fans for 35 years of Sonic adventures, underscoring how long he has viewed the franchise’s history. His remarks are therefore not just about one film, but about a period when Sonic was, in his view, not a sure thing for Sega and later regained momentum.

Background

Iizuka says the Sonic franchise is now 35 years old and that he has worked on more than 30 Sonic-related games. That makes him one of the longest-involved names in the series. In the broader context around his anniversary message, he is also described as a creative leader within Sonic Team, which further underlines his role in the franchise.

His comments focus on a period when Sonic, in his view, was not a given for Sega. The 2020 film is mentioned in that context as the moment when the franchise regained clear momentum. That fits the way the movie is framed in coverage: not only as a box office success, but also as a project that boosted Sonic’s visibility beyond games.

The available sources leave a few points open. It is not fully clear whether Sega formally decided to scrap Sonic, or whether it was an internal discussion during a weak period. The reported roughly $320 million in revenue is also left without extra context in the source material. Still, the core of Iizuka’s reflection is clear: he describes a franchise that hit a low point, then found renewed strength through the 2020 film.

That makes his comments relevant to Sonic the Hedgehog’s broader history. The series has gone through multiple generations of players and media adaptations, and Iizuka’s own career of more than 30 Sonic projects shows how long he has been part of that evolution. His reflection connects that long history to a concrete turning point in 2020, when the first live-action film arrived and, according to coverage, delivered a major commercial result.

Related GAME-scanner articles

• Takashi Iizuka says Sega once wanted to cut Sonic before the 2020 film hit

Sources

• IGN: "Sega Planned to Kill Sonic the Hedgehog Before Movie Success"
• Takashi Iizuka interview on Sonic’s 35th anniversary
• Reports on the first Sonic film from 2020 and the cited roughly $320 million in revenue