Sega hasn't made a good Shinobi game in decades but hey Shogun is popular, so we're getting a Shinobi movie

The Revenge of Shinobi title screen.
(Image credit: Sega)

Following the success of Sonic the Hedgehog, and no doubt with an eye on the huge popularity of FX's Shogun series, Deadline has reported that a Shinobi movie is in the works. The series began in 1987 with a side-scrolling arcade game and would find big success with sequels on the Mega Drive / Genesis, but barring a couple of (fairly good) PlayStation 2 entries in the early 2000s, and a forgettable 3DS game in 2011, Shinobi has not been a part of the gaming landscape for some time.

That is going to change: Sega is currently developing a Shinobi reboot, with leaked footage showing a traditional side-scrolling action game with a lovely art style. The film however is apparently loosely based on the original arcade game's plot, which featured ninja Joe Musashi fighting the Zeed terrorist group, who for some reason are kidnapping all his students.

Plenty of blanks for writer Ken Kobayashi to fill in, then. Kobayashi's written for shows including Hit-Monkey and Moonfall, while his screenplay Move On is currently in development at Columbia.

Sam Hargrave is signed on as director. Hargrave previously directed the two Extraction movies for Netflix: the first is the most-watched original film in the platform's history, with the sequel also enormously popular. He's also directing Mattel's Matchbox film and Paramount's quaintly titled Kill Them All, so a brand tie-in about stabbing lots of dudes with a katana seems like a good fit for his oeuvre. 

There are also a whole cavalcade of producers attached: Marc Platt, Adam Siegel, Dmitri M. Johnson, executive producers Mike Goldberg and Timothy I. Stevenson, and Sega's Toru Nakahara.

Videogame movies are all the rage now that Hollywood's managed to make a few decent ones and seen the potential returns. As well as the Sonic series of films, which has a third entry incoming, the big success in recent years was the $1.4 billion gross of The Super Mario Bros. Movie. OK there's been a Borderlands or two along the way, and who knows which side of the fence Shinobi will end up on. But I do hope they get the dog from Shadow Dancer in there somehow.

TOPICS
Rich Stanton
Senior Editor

Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as "[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike."

Read more
Screenshot from Shinobi Art of Vengeance, showing a white-clad warrior battling with sword and magic
Controllers beware: The much-loved and much-hated Shinobi series is being revived
Helldivers 2 intro cinematic
Helldivers 2 is getting a film adaptation, even though Starship Troopers already exists
Ninja Gaiden 4 trailer still
Ninja Gaiden 4 is coming this year, and PlatinumGames is helping
Toshiro Mifune's face likeness in Onimusha
Capcom is so devoted to samurai authenticity with the new Onimusha, it went and licensed the face of Japan's most legendary actor
Jean-Claude Van Damme and Michel Qissi on the poster for the movie Kickboxer
Remember the Jean-Claude Van Damme movie Kickboxer? They're making a videogame of it now
Simu Liu in a fighting pose from Marvel film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Random guy on Twitter asks Marvel star Simu Liu about a Sleeping Dogs movie, Simu Liu says he's working on it—and he wants a new game, too
Latest in Gaming Industry
A still from a video announcement of Game Informer's return, featuring the magazine's Halo 2 issue.
Game Informer is back from the dead: 'The whole team has returned'
Typing on internet search toolbar: What am I doing?
How a Microsoft exec managed to pitch Microsoft Word through the genius tactic of being able to actually use it in a 'type-off' demanded by clients: 'I was the only one who'd actually been a secretary'
Half-Life wallpaper - Gordon Freeman
Former Valve exec says the company struggled to sell Half-Life until coming up with the ultimate 'one simple trick' of marketing manoeuvres: slapping a 'Game of the Year' sticker on the box
Gabe Newell looks into the camera, behind him is a prop of a turret from Team Fortress 2.
Gabe Newell's cult of personality is intense, but a Valve exec who worked with him says his superpower is how he 'delighted in people on the team just being really good at what they did'
The Spy from Team Fortress 2 holds up a folder with an accusatory expression.
One of Valve's original executives shares a very simple secret to its success: 'You can't use up your credibility' by trying to make bad games work
Gabe Newell in a Valve promotional video, on a yacht.
Gabe Newell had his eyes on a social network in the '90s that 'was not in a games context at all'—meaning Valve-owned social media could've been a very real thing
Latest in News
Napster client circa 1999
Former music-pirating platform Napster to be reborn rather ironically as a metaverse for musicians to connect with their fans after $207 million deal
The snazzy red and black HyperX Cloud Alpha wireless headphones float in a teal void. The microphone is attached to the headset.
The best wireless gaming headset is now even better in the Amazon Big Spring Sale, boasting a more than $50 discount
A chip being held up in an Intel fab
Intel is reportedly 'working to finalize commitments from Nvidia' as a foundry partner, suggesting gaming potential for the 18A node
Amazon box
Don't panic! The 'Do Not Send Voice Recordings' option Amazon just removed was only used by 0.03% of customers and they can still have it
Digital generated image of people surrounded by interactive transparent and glowing panels with data. Visualising smart technology, blockchain and artificial intelligence
Now I shall demand the cookies! Proposed new browsing agreement turns the tables and lets users dictate terms to websites
Intel CEO, Pat Gelsinger, with a 18A SRAM test wafer
Former Intel CEO, Pat Gelsinger becomes executive chairman of a 'Technology Platform Connecting the Faith Ecosystem' to work on Christian AI using DeepSeek