After Sonic, Mario and now Minecraft, the movie industry has developed a serious appetite for all sorts of video game adaptations. Although not all of them have been a roaring success (spare a moment for Borderlands), most of them are generally raking it in at the box office.
A while ago Sega announced it would enter this space with various other IP, and joining the likes of Sonic, Shinobi and Streets of Rage (the list goes on…), will supposedly be OutRun. Yes, the classic (and magical) arcade and console driving game where you race across stages, listening to all sorts of pixel tunes is reportedly getting a movie adaptation by Universal.
According to Deadline’s “sources” it will be directed by Michael Bay (Transformers) and the American actress Sydney Sweeney is joining the ride as a producer. Jayson Rothwell (Polar) will be in charge of the script and Bay will also be producing alongside Brad Fuller through their company Platinum Dunes. The same source claims Sweeney is “only on board to produce”.
It’s also apparently been confirmed Toru Nakahara (Sonic 1-3 movies, Knuckles series and Golden Axe) is producing for Sega, and Sega’s president Shuji Utsumi will oversee the entire project. Plot details are reportedly “vague” right now but if it’s anything like the games there’ll be a lot of driving, Ferrari, and catchy music.
Sega’s OutRun made its original debut in arcades back in 1986 and was followed up by a full-blown 3D sequel titled OutRun 2 in 2003. The original game is available on the Switch eShop as part of the Sega Ages collection. In recent years the company has announced its intention to revive legacy IP with games like Shinobi, Jet Set Radio and Crazy Taxi set to make a comeback.