Sega Announces Space Channel 5 And Comix Zone Movies

Comix Zone has the possibility of being something interesting. It just has a painfully 90's aesthetic that they're going to need to change...but if they do then it probably won't feel like Comix Zone anymore. Definitely a product of its time.

OK. Comix Zone has good potential, but Space Channel 5 is gonna need to be a really weird one.

If they can stick to the source material and not do too much realism it can work, but these companies step in and always say “ let’s add hyper realism nobody asked for”

Question : How do you feel about more Sega games being adapted into movies? Do you think these IPs will work on the big screen?

Me :

you know i genuinly asked myself Hollywood ? jet set radio ?
NO keep jet set radio away from hollywood they'll turn it into a wayyyy to serious movie the whole point of jet set radio was there was a serious actuall background plot with a gang war for turf and graffiti for freedom of expression
Another one I think ANYBODY who actually loves Nigths into dreams could do is make a good nights movie It wouldn't be hard to make it good

These are really random properties, but I hope they will be good!

Space Channel is just a boring version of Samba De Amigo in my mind.

A space channel 5 movie?! It better be camp as hell. This should be interesting.

The movie Monkeybone with Brendan Frazier is what I imagined a Comix Zone movie would be as a kid.

I'm not that familiar with SC5 but I enjoyed Comix Zone back then. I rather see a new title (a remake even) then a live-action movie though tbh.
It already felt like this before but I really feel like Sega are just letting the success of the Sonic movies getting it to their head, making films of these two very niche games and expecting them to be big sellers like Sonic. They be lucky if even one of their earlier announced film adaptations gets completed.

@ATaco @Pac-Man @Strictlystyles:
According to press releases this is the plot of the two movies.

Space Channel 5: "a comedy/dance adaptation of the cult-classic 1999 dance game, will tell the story of a hapless fast-food worker who is recruited by a freedom reporter from the future to save the world from aliens using the one thing that unites all people on the planet: our love of silly viral dances."

Comix Zone: "an adaptation of the cult console game, follows a jaded comic book creator and a young, queer writer of color who, when sucked into the final issue of his popular series, must put aside their differences to stop a dangerous supervillain from sowing complete destruction. In the process, they wittily explore the ever-evolving art of storytelling itself."

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/sega-adapting-space-channel-5-comix-zone-movies-1235202357/

I can think of several SEGA games I’d like to see as movies before these two, but I’m sure they can make them competently enough. Hopefully.

I have my doubts these will ever actually happen but if they do they seem like pretty much guaranteed flops to me.

Comix Zone seems like a good choice for a movie, just because there have been several similar TV shows and movies, (and parts in movies) where a character gets sucked into a media world.

I've never heard of Space Channel 5 before.

@ATaco They can embrace that fun 90s aesthetic instead. Certainly nothing to be embarrassed about.

Yikes Comix Zome will either be “too 90s in a bad way” or “not 90s enough”. I feel bad for whoever is making it but I truly wish them the best of luck!”

Bring Space Channel 5 to Switch and then we can talk about movies.

Golden Axe, please

Space Channel 5 was awesome.

“an adaptation of the cult console game, follows a jaded comic book creator and a young, queer writer of color”

Box ticking =/= Representation. Race, gender or sexual identity reduced to a marketing exercise is insulting to everyone involved, gets the word ‘woke’ dragged through the mud by the right wing loonies (who seem to think being aware of inequality and wanting to do something about it is somehow a bad thing) and sets back the whole thing back to the tokenism of the past.

Can’t wait for Baz Luhrmann’s Space Channel 5

I just don't get SEGA anymore. They are sitting on a treasure trove of classic IP's which they're always talking about bringing back but never do, and what do they do instead?
Like, who wanted this, really?

I'd like to see the Space Channel 5 games come to modern systems, I've never played one and they look fun

Sega is going to bollocks this up. It has Sonic as a bankable franchise, thats it. It isnt Nintendo with endless recognisable characters. Sonic and done. It’s going to sink all its gains in to endless movies, they all tank, and before you know it Sega has done what it has always done, worked itself out of a market. Meanwhile, Nintendo and Sony game movies define the next era of films now the superhero fad is fading slowly away.

Interesting, A good movie help to revive a franchise if it is make with good ideas, and a great adaptation.
For example, Need For Speed the movie, well, It didn't win any prize, but, really was a example that a movie from a videogame that (originally) lack of history, done with good ideas, good focus and a good plot show a excellent option for enjoying.

Comix Zone was the first Beat 'em Up style game I actually got into. You fight only one or two enemies at a time, the game is strictly 2D sidescrolling with no pseudo-3D "lanes", and there are items to find, puzzles to solve, and secrets to look for.
This is in contrast to Streets of Rage and its ilk, which bombard you with ten enemies at a time, have an unintuitive "3d arena with 2d planes" system where you can miss because you're not on the same plane as your opponent, and consist of pretty much nothing but brawling...

Now as I am more experienced, I can "get" the Streets of Rage style of Beat 'em Up, but I still feel like Comix Zone is just much more interesting and engaging to me as a game.

I bought Space Channel5 because it had Michael Jackson in it! Bonus for me that it was an absolutely fantastic game! If Space Michael is in the movie, I’ll Be There

@Slain Except they have been bringing them back. Over the last few years, they've brought back Wonder Boy, Shenmue, Streets of Rage, Sakura Wars, Alex Kidd, Monkey Ball, Panzer Dragoon, House of the Dead, Virtua Fighter, and probably a couple more that I'm forgetting about. Heck, they brought back Space Channel 5 itself back in 2020 with a brand new game (it may be a VR game, but, at least in my mind, that doesn't at all negate the fact that they did, in fact, make a new Space Channel 5 game) The problem is less that they aren't doing anything with their franchises, and more that they just have too many to be able to reasonably manage at any one time. Back in the 90s, game development was a lot less expensive, and Sega took full advantage of that, easily having a larger output than most other companies at the time, due to them releasing arcade games and console games at a similar pace, with most of those being unique IP. Nowadays, with development costs being much higher, they probably just don't have the people or the money to make everything that the fans want.

❗️I hope Michael Jackson gets an appearance in the SC5 Movie.

@Yoshisaur I thought something more along the lines of Cool World.

Well that's kinda.. random? These series haven't gotten a new game in years I don't think so to suddenly get movies from them sounds weird.

Hopefully they'll be good though!

To be frank, they should make another game instead of a film.

@Banksie Superhero movies aren't going anywhere, and video game movies aren't 'the next big thing'. While everyone was claiming Doctor Strange 2 bombed, it made $950m worldwide (without a Chinese release) this year, which was $150m more than Sonic 2 and Uncharted combined.

@Yosher Can you really call them a 'series' with only a single entry?

Might be the old man yelling at a cloud here but...

First:
A Space Channel Movie without Space Michael?
Can they please cast Tom Jones as President Peace, though ❤️

Second:
"a young, queer writer of color"
Did I miss that part in the game?
I am bisexual myself but at this point it is just insulting how absolutely everything needs to have thrown the diversity stick into it because it better be there...like how god forbid your game doesn't have any crafting these days....
I think this token diversity character that has to be thrown in is doing more damage to minorities it tries to represent than actually helping making them more comfortable or more visible. Since being "the gay" is always their whole character trait. Those characters are always gays who somehow happen to be people and not people who somehow happen to be gay. And I love how it is shoved directly into your face by making it this character's explicit character trait in the announcement and at the same time is shoved aside by not "bothering" the main character with it. They create someone else as gay so one random hero from a 30 year old game doesn't have to be. There is nothing in the game about his sexuality so if you want to make it diverse then why not go the full road and give him this trait without announcing it? How is this not insulting to gay people? And it is always the same. It is always saying "we want to acknowledge you but could you step abit aside though, we really don't want to get too uncomfortable for the rest of our audience."
It is like dressing up your logo in some fancy colors for a month while making big bucks with countries that throw you off a cliff if you kiss another man....
Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy diversity in characters but please please please please stop making it their whole character.

Other than that, I could see Comix Zone being a good fit for a movie ^^

My heart made a bump from "Sega Announces Space Channel 5 And Comix Zone", I hoped for "Games" until I saw "movies". From here it's been an emotional downfall ^^

I’d rather see golden axe!

Such odd choices but space channel 5 could become a modern bmovie classic.

Space Channel 5 based around viral dances is a smart as heck move. If it’s basically just a showcase for the most impressive stuff that people are doing on TikTok; let them get paid for the skills they’re showing off for free, string it together with a bare-bones plot, the audience will show up for it and a dormant franchise gets a shot in the arm and some modern relevance. Everyone wins.

Nothing that would interest me because I am an old, old man. But the kids should get a SpaceTikTok movie. Good on ‘em.

@Maulbert I guess not. To be honest I've never really seen much of these games, or known much about them other than that they exist, and thus was never sure if they had more games in the series.

@Lostdragon Yes, you missed that part in the game. While I haven't played enough of the game to determine if the queer part is new, I can at least attest to the fact that the character did exist in the game, seems to have been major, and was black. So they aren't actually deviating too far from the source in that specific regard. Then again, I haven't touched the game much, so I could be thinking of someone else. I do at least know that there was at least one major black woman in the game (I do think she was a lead, and was actually really competent), so even if the character wasn't in the original game, it isn't really a break in tone from the original game, especially when you need to expand the cast for a movie.

Space Channel 5 could be really wild and fun, then I read "a hapless fast food worker is recruited". I rarely understand why we need a new character introduced to a franchise. Do they really think Ulala is an impenetrable character that we can't project ourselves on?

This is the end

Comix Zone may work as a generic b-movie but Space Channel 5 not really sure. They could turn SC5 into a teen dance contest movie perhaps.

Comix zone definitely has potential for a movie but space channel 5 😂 what about Golden Axe or Crazy Taxi what I really wanna see is Outrun the movie now I would watch that make it happen Sega

These are some very questionable choices. I get why they did this with Sonic. He is their mascots, he is popular and well-known around the world, and the series still prints money. Space Channel 5 and Comix Zone could be good films. They have potential, but it still feels so weird.

@alexybubble There are a few SEGA games that they have bought back, which I am very grateful for but the thing is they have been smaller projects handled by other devs. Panzer Dragoon Remake was awesome but it was done by Forever not SEGA and I would have preferred to see a new game in the series. Same kind of thing with Alex Kidd and the Wonderboy remakes (although Monsterboy was cool ). At least Steets of Rage 4 was new.
The point I was trying to make was that SEGA dont seem to be giving a lot of their older IP's the AAA treatmeant by SEGA themselves. I'd rather see SEGA invest in bringing back some of their long neglected games than a couple movies that will most probably suck.

I just need Space Channel 5 on the Switch!!!!! You can keep the movie

As a concept, I think Comix Zone has actual potential, don't think Space Channel 5 has much of a shot though honestly, unless they really rework it, but then what's the point?
What bothers me most about the description for the Comix Zone one is that they describe the comic book creator as "jaded", a personality trait, but they describe the writer as "young, queer and of color". Those are not personality traits unless they are saying that IS his/her/their personality, but I think it's clear they threw those in there for the buzzwords. It becomes even more apparent when they mention that they must "put aside their differences" later. That line would have worked better if maybe the writer was described as "new, optimistic or high-spirited" to play off the jadedness or if the creator was described as bigoted. It could play off the queer/of color part (although not sure Comix Zone is the right movie to have a major focus on the overcoming of bigotry, but more power to them). Using it for marketing is one thing, but I just hope they actually flesh the character out in the movie instead of just making them another diversity plug-in that only exists to be the token minority representation.

For sure these are just going to be movies that languish in dev hell for 5 years and are then forgotten.

Enters Chris Pratt...

It feels so obscure to get these two titles though. The first two properties that I think of with Sega that could be made into movies are Streets of Rage and Shenmue. Or even anime for Skies of Arcadia and Panzer Dragoon. Heck, even Golden Axe and Shinobi would be more recognized. Or even Jet Set Radio would be amazing, even though it's a bit obscure. But Comix Zone and Space Channel 5? Not the first titles I would have thought of.

Considering how bad movies are today - I could see this working.

@Yosher @Maulbert: Well of those two only SC5 can be called a series as the original game had two followups (three if you count the Game Boy Advance remake/port); one sequel in 2002 and one VR game in 2020.

Video games movie adaptations are awful. Did video game developers forgot about it? At least, look at the recent Biohazard/Resident Evil adaptations. That's horrible. The only 2 video games adaptations that worth mention are Uwe Boll's Postal and Takashi Miike's Gyakuten Saiban(Ace Attorney). Though, Postal is trash, and there is no good translation of Gyakuten Saiban movie, sadly.

2 years later… Sega announces that it will create a subsidiary called Sega Pictures to release movie adaptations from its plethora of IPs, and for a start, by filming new movie adaptations for Seaman and Feel the Magic XX/XY.

I'd rather see Phantasy Star made into a movie.

Can't wait for the Seaman movie, I bet they'll get Chris Pratt to play Seaman

@GregamanX
Jet Set Radio given to Edgar Wright or Phil Lord and Christopher Miller would be straight up amazing

Altered beast as an anime movie just like castlevania would do for me.

Why not Ecco or Nights?

@The-Chosen-one Rise from your graves!

@Gs69 They’ve actually tried to get Golden Axe and Crazy Taxi movies off the ground a few times, along with Altered Beast and Streets of Rage, the latter looking like it’s actually happening soon.

What about GAMES?! I’m getting too old for this.

Granted Zone sounds like “never meet your heroes”: the movie. Which might be fun.

Out of all their IPs... ah well, we shall see. The Sonic movies are pretty good.

@SoulChimera I didn’t know this I would watch any of those , any of them are surely a better choice than space channel 5 even kid chameleon would be more interesting

Yikes. Odd choices for movie adaptions. Seriously, would rather see SEGA remake/remaster Skies of Arcadia or something.

I would love to see movie adaptation of Wonderboy: The Dragon's Trap, Ecco the Dolphin and Alex Kidd In Miracle World.

@AstraeaV

Hahah serious when reading your comment i read it with the retro sound in my head 🤣🤣

@Lostdragon "There is nothing in the game about his sexuality"
He ends up together with the lady character from his comic in the good ending.

After reading those synopses, I just hope these get quietly cancelled.

How about raising the volume and lowering the distortion with a Chakan the Forever Man movie.

I think a Catherine, Trauma Center, Jet Grind Radio, Crazy Taxi and/or Skies of Arcadia anime could be interesting if we’re talking Sega properties that could work well if adapted to other mediums. But obviously I first & foremost prefer new games.

… Wun can only hope.

As long as they tone down identity politics as much as possible (I'd hope for it to not be there but realize that that's close to impossible these days), then I'm all for it. Comix Zone needs to be full-on 90's or it won't work though.

How can you make movies of these IP when you won't even make games for them?

@ATaco The painful '90s aesthetic is what makes it awesome. Without it, it could just be any other movie.

Erm are they allowed to say "queer writer of color", guess so

Okay, if that many bets are off, I’mma call for a Space Harrier movie…

Matter of personal opinion of course but I don't think every video game property needs a movie...

@durrdevil same way that Christopher Gans claims a new silent hill movie is on the way yet the series hasn't had a new game since 2012.

Interesting. Comix zone was one of my favorite games as a kid. I had no idea the comic writer was of color and queer. It's great to get the background story. As for space channel 5, now I'm interested to know the main characters color, gender/orientation, religion etc.

They should turn Jet Set Radio into a movie or better ... bless us with a proper sequel to JSR games!

First time I played Comix Zone was on the Wii VC. Cool premise and nice visuals, never got very far though, it's a tough game.

The 90s movie, Cool World is very similar now that think about it. Incidentally Cool World had a Snes game that coincided with the movie's release. It was terrible.

I figured that this would be bad, but my God...

Time and time again, I learn the hard way that my rock-bottom expectations aren't nearly low enough!

I hope the make big profits and the use them to launch a new console.

I guess it doesn't really matter. They'll mess up the movies in strange and confusing ways anyway. They almost always do.