In what could easily be the second-most exciting Shinobi-adjacent story to hit the internet today—after news that Sega has apparently opened up the floodgates to ROM hacks and bootleg versions of most of its classic games on Steam—Deadline is reporting that the beloved Sega franchise will soon be making its way to theaters. Film producer Marc Platt (Rachel Getting Married, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World) has acquired the rights to the long-running series, which began with an arcade game in 1987, before gaining massive acclaim on the company’s Genesis and Mega Drive systems.
For those unfamiliar with Shinobi—which translates to “Ninja” in English— here’s a quote from the Deadline write-up, which nicely encapsulates the series’ plot: “It is a warrior game that usually involves swords and knives and, of course, fighting the next big boss.” Often, said big boss is a rival ninja or some kind of demon, which the main character—who varies from game to game, but is often identified as “Joe Musashi”—battles with his swords and knives.
Platt is working with rightsholder Stories International on the upcoming film. The company is also working on developing the rich, nuanced narratives of a number of other Sega classics, like Golden Axe (“Hit some guys with your axe”), Altered Beast (“Hit some guys with your werewolf claws“) and Crazy Taxi (“Hit mute on your TV remote when another goddamn Offspring song comes on while you’re trying to drive mouthbreathers to Pizza Hut”) for the small and silver screens.