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Netflix and SEGA are teaming up for multiple adaptations of the latter’s gaming franchises.
The first and most notable of the deal is a feature film adaptation of the long-running racing game “Crazy Taxi”. Dan Gregor and Doug Mand, the writing pair behind 2025’s “The Naked Gun” reboot, will pen the script.
Original Film’s Neal H. Moritz and Toby Ascher and Sega’s Toru Nakahara are on board to produce.
First released to arcades in 1999, each game has the player assume the role of a taxi driver who must accumulate money by delivering passengers to their destinations in the fastest time possible, earning tips by performing “crazy stunts” before the time runs out.
Also on the way is a film based on RGG Studio’s upcoming action-adventure game “Stranger Than Heaven,” which serves as a distant prequel to the “Like a Dragon” franchise.
The game releases in January and depicts the journey of Makoto Daito, a Japanese-American outcast who finds a new life in early 20th century Japan, spanning over the course of 50 years as he claws his way from destitute stranger to feared yakuza to entertainment tycoon.
Finally, a new animated “Sonic the Hedgehog” series is currently in development with Carlos Stevens and Toru Nakahara. The show will present Sonic and his friends as heroes for an upper pre-school audience. The sho has been “built for kids who want to feel a little edge, a little attitude”.
The news comes as SEGA president and COO Shuji Utsumi has revealed to Nikkei that an increasing number of fans of the brand don’t actually play any games – rather they watch gameplay online and buy merchandise instead.
This is reportedly especially true of the “Like a Dragon” games, with women making up 60-70% of the customer base for merchandising and implying that this isn’t the case with the games.
In fact, engagement from some of these fans is even higher than that of fans who actually play the game.
Source: Variety
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