SEGA’s Shinobi Coming to the Big Screen From Universal Pictures, Extraction’s Sam Hargrave to Direct

Universal Pictures is lining up its next video game film adaptation, and it’s a classic SEGA franchise. The studio announced today that it’s bringing the iconic Shinobi videogame franchise to the big screen. Sam Hargrave (Extraction, Extraction II) will direct the feature from a script by writer Ken Kobayashi (Sunny, Move On, Moonfall).

Marc Platt and Adam Siegel are producing the project through their Marc Platt Productions banner. Dmitri M. Johnson is producing through Story Kitchen. Toru Nakahara is producing the film on behalf of SEGA. Mike Goldberg executive produces the film alongside Timothy I. Stevenson, who is co-producing the project.

The Shinobi game series made its arcade game debut in 1987. The series typically follows game protagonist Joe Musashi, a modern-day ninja who fights and confronts monstrous evil, including expys for the likes of John Rambo, The Terminator, Spider-Man, Batman, and even Godzilla.

The franchise spans 14 games, including spinoffs and ports, with more than five million copies sold worldwide. SEGA announced last year at The Game Awards that a new installment of the game franchise is in the works last year. This will be the first Shinobi video game since Shinobi 3D was released on the Nintendo 3DS in 2011. More information on the upcoming game will be revealed at a later date.

Shinobi is the latest video game IP to get the film treatment at Universal Pictures following the success of last year’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Five Nights at Freddy’s which grossed over $1.4 billion and $290 million, respectively, at the worldwide box office.

SEGA’s partnership with Paramount Pictures has also yielded success with the iconic Sonic the Hedgehog film franchise, also based on the classic video game series. The first two films in the franchise have grossed more than a combined $725 million at the global box office. The next installment in the series, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 hits theaters on December 20. Also, Like a Dragon: Yakuza, based on SEGA’s Yakuza game series is getting a television series adaptation from Amazon MGM Studios. It debuts on Prime video on October 24.

The Shinobi movie does yet have an official release date.