The Game Awards 2023, among all the exciting announcements, SEGA released a trailer dubbed “Power Surge” which revealed that the company will be revisiting some of their iconic franchises and reinventing them for modern times. Titles like Crazy Taxi, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, Jet Set Radio and Shinobi were name dropped and we saw clips of new entries in these franchises running. It seems this revival extends beyond video games as SEGA revealed today that Shinobi will be coming to the cinemas thanks to a collaboration with Universal Pictures.
The reveal didn’t show any footage or cast, but we did learn that Sam Hargrave who is a frequent collaborator with the Russo Brothers, did stunt coordination for several Marvel Cinematic Universe films and made his directorial debut in the Chris Hemsworth action vehicle Extraction will be directing the film adaptation. Ken Kobayashi will be handling the screenplay.
For those who are unfamiliar with Shinobi, it originated as an arcade game that led to several sequels and spin offs. Originally it was a tale of Ninja Joe Musashi taking on the criminal syndicate Zeed. Joe would star in 5 titles in the series and go on to cameo in the PlayStation 2 entries of this franchise. It will be interesting to see if filmmakers will feature Joe or perhaps some other member of the Oboro clan.
It will be interesting to see what approach this film will take and how it will be rated. Since it’s still early in the development process, let’s hope SEGA will be transparent and keep fans in the loop of the production of this film.
POWER SURGE: SEGA REVEAL TRAILER – TGA 2023
