10 Movies That Pissed People Off Before They Even Released

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, particularly when it comes to the movie business. With such a wide spectrum of entertainment to enjoy, certain people will like what others don't, and vice versa.

Typically, in order to form an opinion on a film, you'd have to actually see it first, right? While that is true, there are certain factors that go towards deciding such things beforehand - anything from personal preferences, trailers and marketing, or even something as little as the timing of the release.

Having an emotional response to something before it even comes out is incredibly common. Who hasn't been excited by a trailer or had in mind the perfect casting for their favourite character? But it can go the other way as well, with potential audiences not just feeling underwhelmed at the prospect of an upcoming release, but actually getting angry with it.

Trailers have let fans down, character designs have fallen way short of what was expected, and creative decisions have pissed people off before films have even gotten close to the cinema. Some of these movies were able to overcome the mountain they had to climb right out of the gate, but others weren't so lucky.

Whenever there is a film adaptation of a popular source material, be that a novel, a comic book, or a video game, whatever the medium it will come with certain expectations from its existing fan base. Particularly when the property in question is as iconic and popular as Sonic the Hedgehog.

The little blue speedster is one of the most instantly recognisable characters in the history of video games, and that aesthetic is incredibly important. If that wasn't obvious to the filmmakers before they released the first look at their cinematic Sonic in 2019, it sure was after.

In what seemed an ill-advised bid to make a talking blue anthropomorphic hedgehog who can move at the speed of light more realistic, Sonic's designers gave him what almost appeared to be more human-like eyes and teeth. To say that potential audiences were disgusted would be an understatement.

So relentless was the backlash that Sony had no choice but to respond, changing Sonic's design to be more in line with the traditional look from the games. Now, the Sonice movie trilogy has just passed $1 billion at the box office, with a fourth picture on the way, and you could argue that none of that would have happened had the public not fought back against such a poor initial design.