"Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" producer Marc Platt will be working on a live-action adaptation of "Shinobi," based on the Sega video game franchise of the same name. According to Deadline, Platt and his production company will be working hand-in-hand with Sega, Stories International and the production department of Hakuhodo DY Group.
The "Shinobi" franchise started back in 1987, when the first game launched in arcades and was later ported for the Sega Master System. The main entries in the franchise focus on Joe Musashi, a ninja who often has to battle the evil Zeed corporation who kidnaps children for its experiments. The series was rebooted in 2002 on the Playstation 2.
As stated in a report from Screen Rant, the "Shinobi" franchise is a safe choice in regards to adapting a video game series for film given that the video games focus heavily on high-speed action, martial arts, and a mixture of traditional ninja lore with science fiction.
Although the film is moving forward, there has yet to be a finalized script to work on and no director or cast member has yet been attached to the program. The report also does not reveal a release date, hinting that the "Shinobi" movie may take a few more years to materialize.
It is also stated in the report that movies starring ninjas and focusing on martial arts have a strong cult following in the West and are a mainstay hit in Asia. Films such as "The Raid," "Ip Man" and "Ong Bak" have become popular in their respective countries and have become hits in the West as well despite seeing very limited theatrical releases in the U.S.
Movies based on video games have fared poorly with low critical ratings and low box office results but this may change if the upcoming "Warcraft" and "Assassin's Creed" films revitalize the franchise. The aforementioned films are expected to launch new interest in video game films similar to how "X-Men" and "Spider-Man" launched the now popular comic book movie genre.
