Even with the success of numerous video game adaptations over the years, there’s always a bit of hesitancy around what will succeed and what won’t. Even if critics loved a title or film or didn’t, you never know what the casual fan will do. The same could be said for hardcore fans. To that end, the Knuckles TV Series debuted on Paramount+ last weekend, and at first glance, it didn’t look like something that would be successful. After all, Rotten Tomatoes wasn’t its biggest fan, and some noted that Knuckles himself wasn’t in the series that much. That didn’t seem to bother the people who watched it!
We say that because Deadline has revealed that the Knuckles TV Series didn’t just do well on Paramount+, but it broke all records upon its arrival. First off, it was the biggest and most-viewed original series in the streamer’s history. Granted, it’s not been around as long as ones like Netflix, but it’s still been a few years. Plus, it has shows like Star Trek Strange New Worlds, Discovery, and Picard, all of which are beloved series that have done well on the service.
But if you’re looking for more concrete numbers, the show was watched for a combined four million hours within its premiere weekend. For a six-episode series, that’s pretty impressive. Not to mention, it’s the most-watched kids’ show on the platform. Just as important, other series on Paramount+ that featured Sonic The Hedgehog saw a big boost in viewership thanks to Knuckles solo debut, which made executives at Paramount very happy:
“The Sonic the Hedgehog fans came out in full-force,” praised Jeff Grossman, who is the Executive Vice President of Programming at Paramount+. “We’re so thrilled with the record-breaking performance of Knuckles and the incredible lift the whole Sonic universe has experienced following Knuckles’ premiere.”
So why did the spinoff do so well? It might simply be because the first two live-action movies were big successes and helped push the video game adaptation market forward by leaps and bounds. Another element is that the third movie in the franchise is set to debut in December, and Knuckles will be a part of that film. As a result, fans might have been curious to see if the show tied into the next film or simply helped flesh out Knuckles’ character before that film debuted.
Either way, it’s clear the franchise is in the best place possible, and with Shadow the Hedgehog’s impending arrival, things will only get bigger.
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