SEGA of America, the US arm of Tokyo-based SEGA Games, is racing to retail with a collection of consumer products inspired by Paramount Pictures’ upcoming live-action feature film Sonic the Hedgehog. Key categories include toys, collectibles, apparel and publishing.

Licensing partners for the upcoming movie are Jakks Pacific (playsets, plush), Build-a-Bear Workshop (specialty plush), Toy Factory and Sega Amusement (novelty products), Penguin Publishing (books), Bioworld (apparel, accessories), Bentex (apparel), TVM Fashion Lab and Cooneen (apparel, accessories), Franco (bedding), Diamond Select Toys (figures), Snapco (in-cinema concessions) and Ping Solutions (in-cinema concessions). The first products are launching this month, with the full CP program hitting shelves throughout 2020.

Jakks Pacific signed a multi-year global toy licensing deal with SEGA to manufacture, market and distribute products inspired by its Sonic the Hedgehog video game brand in February. The agreement covers action figures, playsets, plush, collectibles and novelty items.

Announcements around consumer products follow a rough start for the film project. When the first trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog dropped in April, there was immediate outcry from fans about the titular character’s appearance. Shortly thereafter, Paramount pushed the film’s release to February 2020, from its original November 2019, in order to complete a redesign (pictured).

Since the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise first launched in 1991, its video game spin-offs have sold more than 800 million units.