Classic ’80s Video Game ‘Shinobi’ To Get Its Own Feature Film

It looks like another video game is now about to get the cinematic treatment, but if you were born prior to the 1990s you may not be familiar with the title.

According to Variety, the cult classic ninja game Shinobi is in the early stages of development for the silver screen and has already enlisted Extraction filmmaker Sam Hargrave to helm the project along with producer Marc Platt. As surprising as this choice for a video game turned film is, us ’80s babies aren’t mad as we spent hours on our home entertainment systems slashing and gashing our way through enemies with this game.

Still, we’re not sure if a new generation of gamers and audiences will be as receptive to this as we are given that its popularity isn’t that of say a Super Mario Bros., Mortal Kombat or even Tekken. But with money to be made and other video game films having raked in some big bucks, Universal is looking to bank on an oldie but goodie with their latest project, and at the end of the day it may pay off.

Per Variety:

Universal has enjoyed recent success with video game adaptations, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” ($1.4 billion) and “Five Nights at Freddy’s” ($290 million). Meanwhile, Sega has scored with Paramount’s 2020 console-to-screen redux “Sonic the Hedgehog” ($319 million) and the 2022 sequel ($405 million). A third “Sonic” movie will be released in late 2024.

Ken Kobayashi (“Sunny,” “Move On”) is writing the screenplay for “Shinobi.” Platt and Adam Siegel will produce through Marc Platt Productions. Dmitri M. Johnson will produce through Story Kitchen. Toru Nakahara will produce through Sega. Mike Goldberg will executive produce alongside co-producer Timothy I. Stevenson. Universal’s senior VP of production development Ryan Jones and director of production development Christine Sun will oversee the project for the studio.

With Shinobi looking like it’s going to be an animated film, we wouldn’t be mad if they went the anime route as it just feels like that type of video game, but hey, that’s just us.

What do y’all think about Shinobi getting its own feature film? Is there any other video game you’d like to see made into a movie? Let us know in the comments section below.