Sega ninja game 'Shinobi' gets movie treatment

Sega said Wednesday one of its most popular games, "Shinobi", will be made into a movie in a joint project with Universal Pictures, aiming to emulate the success of "Super Mario Bros".

The Japanese gamemaker did not give a target date for the release but said it had "started the development of a film production" with the Hollywood behemoth.

"Shinobi" was originally created for Japanese arcades in 1987 and features a ninja character who fights to stop a criminal organisation that kidnaps child ninjas.

It is the latest effort to cash in on a video-game adaptation craze after "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" became the second-highest grossing film of 2023, following a 2020 adaptation of Sega's "Sonic the Hedgehog".

Last month, Electronic Arts confirmed that a much-rumoured movie based on its life-simulation gaming series "The Sims" will be developed by Amazon MGM Studios.

"Shinobi is one of Sega's most popular series worldwide, along with Sonic the Hedgehog," Sega said on Wednesday.

The movie will be directed by Sam Hargrave, whose first feature film was the 2020 Netflix movie "Extraction" starring Chris Hemsworth.

Sega said the companies hope the "Shinobi" movie will find box office success like "Super Mario Bros".

In March, Nintendo announced that the red-capped Italian plumber will hit the silver screen again in 2026.

Nintendo is also working on a live-action film of another hugely successful franchise, "The Legend of Zelda", together with Sony, maker of the rival PlayStation console.