Sega teams with Netflix for Crazy Taxi, Sonic and Stranger Than Heaven adaptations

Sega is taking Crazy Taxi, Sonic the Hedgehog and Stranger Than Heaven to Netflix under a new multi-title screen deal.

The partnership starts with a live-action Crazy Taxi film, meaning real actors rather than animation. Netflix set out the agreement on 15 September. Netflix

Crazy Taxi goes first. The script will come from Dan Gregor and Doug Mand, whose credits include the 2025 reboot of The Naked Gun. Netflix lists the film as the first instalment of its collaboration with Sega. Video Games Chronicle

Two other projects sit alongside it. Netflix and Sega have announced a new animated Sonic the Hedgehog series aimed at children, and a film based on Stranger Than Heaven, an upcoming action-adventure game from Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio.

Netflix describes the line-up as spanning three different eras of Sega's catalogue, from the long-running Sonic series to arcade-era Crazy Taxi to the yet-to-be-released Stranger Than Heaven. Yahoo That spread is unusual for a games deal, which often focuses on a single franchise.

Sega president and COO Shuji Utsumi said the fandoms behind the games deserve storytelling that honours what makes each title special. Brandon Riegg, Netflix's vice-president of nonfiction and transmedia, and Sega head producer Toru Nakahara were named by the companies as part of the announcement.

The Netflix pact is not Sega's only screen project. The company is also working separately on a live-action film based on Streets of Rage, its side-scrolling beat-'em-up series.

What makes this stand out is the mix of old and not-yet-released. One adaptation leans on nostalgia, one on an established global character, and one will introduce a new game world to viewers who may meet it on screen first.