Sega's iconic Shinobi franchise is being turned into a Hollywood movie, Deadline is reporting.
Shinobi began life as an arcade release in 1987 and spawned several sequels, including Revenge of Shinobi and Shinobi III on the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis and - more recently - Shinobi on the 3DS. Shinobi III recieved the 3D classics treatment on Nintendo's latest handheld, too.
Producer Marc Platt - who has movies such as Bridge of Spies and Into the Woods - is working with Sega and Hakuhodo DY Group's production arm and joint venture Stories International, Inc. on the adaptation.
This isn't the only Sega title which we'll be seeing leveraged in such a fashion. Stories International president and CEO Tomoya Suzuki is also overseeing several other media projects based on Sega's library of titles, including Golden Axe, Altered Beast, Virtua Fighter and Crazy Taxi.
Platt seems pretty hyped about the whole thing:
We love the Shinobi games and believe that the world of ninjas has never been properly explored onscreen. We now have the opportunity to do just that. With Shinobi, we hope to make a film that honors the essence of the games.
Would you pay to see Joe Musashi on the silver screen? Leap into the shadows of the comments section to tell us what you think.
[source deadline.com]
Comments 29
Excited about this if it's done right. I hope they take the high road with the cinematography and emulate Orson Welles' performance in "Citizen Kane"
Cautiously optimistic. I can see it going the Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li route fast but hey, you never know.
I predict Assassin's Creed will shift perceptions on video game movies, and there will be a spate of decent ones after that. There literally hasn't been a single good game adaptation (although some films that mimic games - e.g. Edge of Tomorrow - have been good).
"also overseeing several other media projects based on Sega's library of titles, including Golden Axe, Altered Beast, Virtua Fighter and Crazy Taxi."
...man, it's good to see that they're focusing on awesome Sega classics that mostly sound like they'd make terrible movies. I suppose Shinobi could be interesting, though... but only if he fights a knockoff Spiderman and Godzilla. While riding a horse. And surfing. With the help of his dog.
I'd rather SEGA actually made games of their old series rather than movies of them.
"..and believe that the world of ninjas has never been properly explored onscreen."
There has only been hundreds of Chinese and Japanese films about ninjas so not only is it a very arrogant statement it will be a video game adaptation, not the best place to start when planning the defining Ninja movie of our time.
Oi SEGA quit doing annoying things and give us a good Sonic and a Skies of Arcadia remaster.
i want chubby sonic back. and i want there to be no more dialogue in sonic games, ever.
oh btw, this might be the right place to ask: can anyone tell me what one's supposed to do in nights... into dreams? i have never been more baffled by a game in my life. seriously, what is the goal?
We already got a Shinobi movie and it sucks. This one will probably sucks even more.
The only one that has potential is Crazy Taxi but that's only if they make it a wacky comedy.
Let me guess.
Michael Bay.
@SamirMalik Crazy taxi would likely be terrible but that'd just add to its charm I think.
Sounds interesting have too see if it's a flop.
Should be Ninja Gaiden...
Wish they'd give the last game the eShop treatment so I can get rid of the cart. Sega movies could be awesome. We'll see how it goes.
@Vegaphil
Exactly....
Who is Joe Musashi?
...I just want a new game...on a home console...with decent artwork. You know...like Shinobi III.
I know Sega let at least one of their IP be turned into a crappy movie. (House of the Dead)
Let's hope watching this movie isn't like watching someone punt babies.
(I remember years ago someone did a parody of this on youtube, and it probably got reported by someone that didn't know the context.)
I'll take this OR Ninja Gaiden (based on NES ninja Gaiden of course)
I'll wait and see how this looks before committing right now. It has the potential to be awesome of course but I can also see this being stuffed to the gills with CG which would suck IMHO. I hope they go for a more realistic Deadpool-style approach.
I almost forgot about Shinobi Legions for the Saturn. That had live-action and I recall it was amazingly terrible. Should we hope for a 90-minute version of that?
Actually a Shinobi movie could be pretty cool.
Could be.
...
@H_Hunter He is the main character for sure in Shinobi, Revenge of Shinobi and Shinobi 3. In Shinobi 3DS, you play as his Father, and I am not sure about the PS2 game.
@H_Hunter Joe Musashi is to Shinobi as Samus Aran is to Metroid. Their character's name is not what's on the title. That means that in most of their franchise games, the character behind the mask could be someone else too.
That picture is of Jiro Musashi, not Joe. :
A very unexpected but welcome surprise! Hopefully it'll be cheesy fun at the very least.
I became a fan of the Shinobi series not too long ago when I bought GG Shinobi after it first came out on the eShop. After that I got the 3DS Shinobi, Shadow Dancer, and 3D Shinobi III. Very fun and difficult series that needs more attention!
seems like pretty good at this one,but can game movie based like this reach the popularity? i guess wait till the movie release
@H_Hunter The protagonist of classic Shinobi games
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