See you next year, Sonic. The Sonic the Hedgehog movie was supposed to speed into theaters this November – and then everyone saw the trailer. The reaction was overwhelmingly negative, with many wondering why the movie’s version of Sonic looked so terrible. Rather than shrug it off, the folks behind the film took the criticism to heart, and quickly announced they’d be redesigning the look of the character. That redesign is going to take a lot of work, which means there’s no way the film could keep its original release. As a result, the Sonic the Hedgehog movie release date has shifted to early next year.

Taking a little more time to make Sonic just right.#novfxartistswereharmedinthemakingofthismovie pic.twitter.com/gxhu9lhU76 — Jeff Fowler (@fowltown) May 24, 2019

Jeff Fowler, director of the Sonic the Hedgehog movie, just provided an update on the project. Instead of zooming into theaters November 8, 2019, the film will now jog into next year, and arrive on February 14, 2020. That is, of course, Valentine’s Day – so make sure to take your sweetheart to see the most romantic movie of 2020. Who wouldn’t want to cuddle up and watch a CGI spiny mammal quip with James Marsden?

Earlier this month, in the wake of the film’s nightmarish trailer, Fowler almost immediately took to social media to give fans a glimmer of hope:

Thank you for the support. And the criticism. The message is loud and clear… you aren't happy with the design & you want changes. It's going to happen. Everyone at Paramount & Sega are fully committed to making this character the BEST he can be… #sonicmovie #gottafixfast ??? — Jeff Fowler (@fowltown) May 2, 2019

I tend to be a bit wary of bowing to fan outrage. For example, I distinctly remember a large amount of criticism regarding the look of the new Pennywise in 2017’s It. When the movie came out, however, nearly everyone agreed the character’s design worked perfectly in the context of the film. That said, you have to admit: Sonic looked terrible in that trailer. Had the filmmakers stuck to a design closer to the video game counterpart, rather than trying to create some weird mutant “realistic” Sonic, they probably wouldn’t be in this mess.

It’s worth noting that in the image accompanying the new release date announcement, the silhouette provided looks much closer to video game Sonic. The animated hand is also wearing a glove – something the movie Sonic lacked. This likely hints at the filmmakers embracing the more traditional look of the character for the movie.

All that said, I personally think that the look of Sonic was the least of the trailer’s problems. The movie itself looked rather disappointing, and I’d be much happier if Fowler and company were going back to rework the script, not just the main character.