The hit rate might remain sketchy, but the march to turn video game properties into movies and TV shows continues unabated. With Sony already developing a film based on speedy mascot Sonic The Hedgehog, Sega is more directly looking for ways to exploit its bulging back catalogue.
According to Variety, the company has hired Evan Cholfin, a veteran of working in production companies for filmmakers such as David Fincher, to be head of development and production at a company called Stories International in Tokyo. The company currently blends Sega and a massive advertising agency in the effort to produce film, TV and digital ventures.
So what is the company working on now? The likes of Altered Beast, Streets Of Rage, Shinobi, Rise Of Nightmares and Crazy Taxi have all been targeted as either live-action or animated possibilities. Nothing concrete has emerged about any of them yet, but this new hire suggests that things will be moving more quickly from now on. Sega will, of course, be looking to catch companies including Electronic Arts (which, unsatisfied with adaptations of its games, drove Need For Speed in-house... and was probably still unsatisfied) and Ubisoft, which is pushing Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell towards cinema screens.