One of Sega’s most popular games, Shinobi, will be made into a movie in a joint project with Universal Pictures, the Japanese game maker announced Wednesday, aiming to emulate the success of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.”
Sega did not provide a target date for the release, but said it had “begun development of a film production” with the Hollywood giant.
Originally created for Japanese arcades in 1987, Shinobi features a ninja character who fights to stop a criminal organization that is kidnapping child ninjas.
It’s the latest attempt to cash in on the video game adaptation craze after ‘The Super Mario Bros.’ Movie’ became the second highest-grossing film of 2023, behind a 2020 adaptation of Sega’s ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’.
“Shinobi is one of Sega’s most popular series worldwide, along with Sonic the Hedgehog,” Sega said Wednesday.
The film is directed by Sam Hargrave, whose first feature film was the 2020 Netflix film “Extraction,” starring Chris Hemsworth.
In March, Nintendo announced that Mario, the Italian plumber with the red cap, will return to the big screen in 2026.
Nintendo is also working on a live-action film of another hugely successful franchise, The Legend of Zelda, with Sony, maker of the rival PlayStation console.
Last month, Electronic Arts confirmed that a highly rumored film based on the life simulation game series The Sims will be developed by Amazon MGM Studios.
