Sega Movie ‘Shinobi’ in the Works From Universal, ‘Extraction’ Director Sam Hargrave

Extraction filmmaker Sam Hargrave is getting into the video game business. The director is attached to helm Universal‘s Shinobi, an adaptation of the Sega game series that seems tailor-made to his action strengths.

The game debuted in 1987 in arcades, and focused on modern-day ninja Joe Musashi, a man who confronts great evil. Hargrave is a stuntman who transitioned into becoming an in-demand director with the Netflix Extraction movies, which were praised for their inventive and visceral action, making it easy to imagine him unsheathing the sword for this property.

Shinobi has spawned 14 games, selling a combined 5 million copies, with a new installment in development.

Universal has found gold in the gaming space, with The Super Mario Bros. Movie topping $1.4 billion globally, and Blumhouse’s Five Nights at Freddy‘s passing $290 million globally, an impressive sum considering it debuted day-and-date on streaming service Peacock. Sega, meanwhile, has found success with its Sonic the Hedgehog Movies at Paramount, with a third installment due out in December.

Ken Kobayashi will pen the script for Shinobi, with Marc Platt and Adam Siegel producing via Marc Platt Productions. Dmitri M. Johnson will produce through Story Kitchen. Toru Nakahara will produce through SEGA.

Mike Goldberg will executive produce the movie, with Timothy I. Stevenson co-producing. Universal’s senior vice president of production development Ryan Jones and director of production development Christine Sun will oversee for the studio.

Hargrave is repped by WME and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher, LLP.

It’s not like there was a lot of story around _Shinobi_. It was just a generic excuse to make a ninja game. Hell, _Bad Dudes_ was more original. Let’s make a movie about that.