Following the news that Sony Pictures and Nintendo are apparently close to signing a deal to make a new Super Mario movie, it has been revealed that Sega is also looking to exploit its portfolio of famous gaming properties in the field of film and television.
As reported by Variety, media executive Evan Cholfin — who has worked with Steven Zaillian and David Fincher in the past — has been installed as head of development and production at Tokyo-based Stories International. The company was founded in 2011 as a joint venture between Sega and Hakuhodo DY Group, the world’s seventh-largest advertising agency. The firm's aim is to create films, TV shows and entertainment for digital platforms.
Altered Beast, Streets of Rage, Shinobi, Rise of Nightmares and Crazy Taxi are apparently in the running as the first English-language live action and animated spin-offs to be created as part of the new push.
Stories president and CEO Tomoya Suzuki clearly sees Cholfin's appointment as a major turning point, and has a grand vision for Sega's properties on the silver — and small — screen:
With his impeccable taste and experience developing and producing entertainment in nearly every format imaginable, Evan is the unique executive to revitalize and canonize our partners’ brands by working with Hollywood to create stories that will last for centuries.
Video game movies have been something of a running joke in Hollywood for years, with high-profile failures like Super Mario Bros., Street Fighter and Dead or Alive denting confidence in the idea of turning interactive entertainment into passive entertainment. However, there have been commercial successes in-between the embarrassing flops, with Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil, Tomb Raider and The Need for Speed all performing well at the box office.
Could Sega's own properties pull the same trick, or do you think the whole venture is destined to bomb? Let us know by posting a comment below.
[source variety.com]
Comments 67
No way, really? I can't wait for Shinobi Boom!
The only adaptation I'm interested in is Crazy Taxi, honestly.
Tomb raider, need for speed, even most of the resi evils may have been financially successful but they've all been crap movies!!
Crazy Taxi sounds at least semi-interesting...
Altered Beast would make a good Tokusatsu styled show. Shinobi and Streets Of Rage could be interesting too.
Altered Beast Boom....where each beast is a different character.....now which one will be turned into a female and which one will be put on roids??????
Hopefully their seasons last longer than Sonic Boom.
I looked up Evan Cholfin on IMDb. All he has done are short films.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2163505/
@danjohnson141 so... I don't understand. Why would the studios not make them? Like you said, regardless of their quality, they make money.
Sounds like this is the only future Sega's IPs will have now.
Big plans now that they are flush with all of that Sonic Boom cash. I'd rather they put that money towards the development of another unsuccessful console.
@Gerbwmu
No, you got it wrong. The only beast that appears is the Werehog
Well they got to make money somehow, making or localising games isn't possible at all.
Shinobi and Altered Beast could work well as anime.
Streets of Rage could be best suited a Jean Claud van Dame X Vin Deasel type film
Crayzi Taxi could be an action comedy.
Incoming terrible releases in 3....2....1
Streets of rage better feature a boxing kangaroo!!
altered beast animated for me! any one else seen hiskool seha girls? that kind of 3d animation
I think they're like 20-25 too late with these. I remember playing them. In fact, we still play Streets of Rage 2. However, I think that these games are no where close to relevant anymore.
They should have done an Ecco game and reboot the series!
Yeah, no.
SEGA justs keeps trying to bury itself.
Wouldn't it be an even better idea to turn these games into games first??????
There hasn't been a decent shinobi since shinobi III, or a decent streets of rage since streets of rage 2. Both in the 90's!!!!!!!!!!
Sega are idiots
Sega need to sack EVERYONE and find a big reset button that gets all their divisions and staff back from the 90's, like the real sonic team and AM2. The sega that developed panzer dragoon zwei, sega rally '95, Virtua Fighter 5, super monkey ball, ristar, NiGHTS into dreams, panzer dragoon saga, story of thor, streets of rage 2, sonic & knuckles, F-zero gx! How can a company that developed that list and more not have even an ounce of talent left or even the inclination on how to release a game that is 100% finished, let alone any good!!??
I can't House of the Dead wait.
They could do a Body Snatchers movie since the people at Sega clearly aren't the same people that made these awesome games.
Or you could make new videogames based on this cherished IP. No? OK, I'll be going then.
No Seaman?
Shouldn't you revive them first properly?
Shenmue would actually make sense to me.
Heck, I'm in! Let's try to be optimistic. Hopefully this will be good as it could lead to more recognition, money, and hopefully new games for these series one day.
Hope for a Jet Set Radio film or anime!
Crazy Taxi could be quite good if they avoid driving-genre cliches. There's such an opportunity for a rich visual approach there. I'd love to have a crack at it.
Personally I would've preferred getting a new installment in those franchises, but whatever. I'm just glad to see Sega paying attention to something OTHER than Sonic. They do something else every now and then, but nowadays it's mostly just Sonic that they pay attention to.
I remember that Richard Donner mentioned that he wanted to make a crazy taxi movie although that was more than 10 years ago. I guess it's time now.
@NintendoFan64 Total War / Company of Heroes and Football Manager get the most attention. (Followed by Aliens and Sonic with significantly less).
In one hand, I like that Sega remembers those gold old franchises. In the other hand, it is the worst decision ever to turn into movies, especially after a certain hedgehog just exploded (get it Sonic "Boom"), but I'm curious to see where this is going, I hope that Sega doesn't mess this up, those games were like my childhood don't turn them into generic bad movies Sega please ;-;
There's a 0.003% chance that any of them movies would be any good. A Shinobi movie would be great but then again there's already one and it's not the one from Sega.
Altered Beast could work as an anime, although I have no idea what sort of plot you'd get out of it that would be enough for one. Maybe go with a more PG version of Dance in the Vampire Bund's style, or perhaps something like Claymore.
I kinda like the idea of a Yakuza movie thats actually, you know, a yakuza movie. Its a no brainer for sure, but it works, and I find how to the point it is a bit funny. It doesn't have to be live action either.
An Altered Beast film...
...furries are going to like that!
...I am going to like that!
A lot of classic SEGA properties would make awesome movies. Streets of Rage would be the most obvious candidate for a more realistic "take back the city from the bad guys" movie, riding on the momentum from all the superhero movies. Crazy Taxi would probably be a silly B-movie. Shinobi is pretty much already covered by a lot of foreign films from Japan. Altered Beast would probably have to be completely changed up to work in a movie format. Rise of Nightmares isn't a classic property, so I'm not confident about it's level of polish.
Columns would probably make for a cool 5 minute animated short before a feature length one!
Like others have said here, SEGA would really need to undergo a Renaissance before considering spending valuable resources on movies for classic properties. The company has been around for about 60 years, so we could consider it's 80s/90s period their Classical era, and the 00s period their Medieval era... So when is the Renaissance coming?
I like everybody's ideas. And I'm into the 'Crazy Taxi' Movie or Series themes and ideas.
SEGA need to go back to making great games. As much as I'd like to see some good movies based on their IPs, I'd rather have some new games.
They need to stop focusing on Sonic and start bringing back some of their other beloved IPs. Alex Kidd, Wonderboy, Golden Axe, NiGHTS, Panzer Dragoon, Altered Beast, Skies of Arcadia, Shinobi, Streets of Rage, Phantasy Star, Shining Force, Shenmue, Virtua Fighter, Space Harrier, etc, etc. The list of classic games they've got goes on. This is what made them great and this is what gamers want.
So sad to see the glory days gone, their just a shell of their former self.
Time to let the pheonix rise.
I'd watch a Golden Axe cartoon. But it didn't make the cut.
Why not turn them into, you know, new games?
How about games?
Ya know, the things you play?
A proper altered beast game that doesn't suck would be great, and a new Shinobi like the PS2 title would be nice.
I really dunno why so many gaming companies are lately obliged to push their IPs for more mainstream audiences via other mediums. Even when a few film adaptations are commercial successes, it doesn't mean they are respectable films with critical successes, and those listed ever received either mixed or bad reviews.
Coming soon......Crazy Taxi the reality show, starring Xibit as the craaaaaazy cabbie!
... because this idea has never gone wrong before at all, has it?
Its funny, i was talking about Nintendo movies with my gf the other day,
I would definitely say that its about time Nintendo wakes up and realize that they need to open more doors in order for them to be financially stable. After all, Nintendo is the most popular gaming system ( my opinion). Im not sure about Sega's title unless if its a friendly Sonic movie ( mixed in the real world like The Smurfs ). A new Super Mario movie will be a cash cow. it was about time.
I think Crazy Taxi would work as a comedy tv show with each cab driver interacting with their passengers and each other. However, I think Jet Set Radio would be best suited to this kind of format.
I personally would be FAR more interested in Sega turning those and their other MOUNTAIN of amazing properties (not named Sonic) into NEW GAMES as opposed to perpetually sitting on them.
Crazy Taxi... clearly they're going to the franchises with the richest stories...
though a taxi show could be pretty interesting if they focus on the passengers more than the destinations.
Golden Axe could use a retelling, but heck, it could use a decent sequel even more. Have they ever released the second arcade title on disc or for online purchase?
First its Nintendo and now its SEGA.....Clearly they are fit for each other!
Sega Cinematic Universe?
I want to feel the excitement from these news, but it's overshadowed by waves upon waves of anxiety. I really don't know anymore with SEGA...
All these could actually work if done right.
Damn, it seems like we're experiencing a new videogame movie boom! First comic books (thanks marvel), now this!
Hopefully Nintendo's the pioneer...
I just want Streets of rage 4 and I will take back anything I ever said about Sonic lately... Seriously. Even if it blows. I just want it already.
On topic, if Sega were really serious about making movies/tv shows based on IP, I think Shenmue would be a pretty good movie, especially if they manage to wrap up the story. As for a TV show, I want to see a Burning Rangers animated series. I'd rather PLAY them, but if were going to throw IP at movie studios, might as well be these.
Shinobi would be amazing
I bet it's all to market the games that are coming, games bases on movies that are based on cartoons that are based on games, where have I seen this before...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgv25Tql3RY
give me a streets of rage 21 jump street tv show. but id rather take a sor 4 game.
either way this is awesome.
I just recently got Sonic UGC's and tried out Streets of rage 1 and 2 and omg it's freakin fun! Moar new games please!
I would also prefer new video games as opposed to movies, but maybe if the movies are profitable enough, we can get new games from these franchises. I would definitely see Streets of Rage and Altered Beast out of loyalty for playing the heck out of those games when I was a kid and still play them on occasion today.
I wonder what homo-erotic porn actor will be the star of altered beast?
(I hope Fabio plays the main character.)
Nope, nope, nope!!
If Sonic Boom were, um... good, then I wouldn't be as concerned as I am. When you handle your primary mascot that sloppily, I am terrified at what a Shinobi film would be like (though of course I'd want it to be amazing).
A Streets of Rage TV series could be awesome. It could be a crappy kids' cartoon and still get a pass from me. I have no hope for it to be very good.
Crazy Taxi is the only one I think they have the best chance of getting right.
You had me at Streets of Rage, but I want new games. Oh well, play Streets of Rage ReMake. That's pretty awesome.
Streets of rage!
@electrolite77 My thoughts Exactly!
@retro_player_22 that is a ninja scroll remake though. I only watched it because I adore Yukie Nakama.
Tap here to load 67 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...