SEGA and Netflix have announced a new partnership to bring more of the Japanese company’s franchises to film and television. The agreement initially covers three projects: movies based on Crazy Taxi and Stranger Than Heaven, as well as a new Sonic the Hedgehog animated series aimed at children.

What Will These New Projects Be Like?

The first project planned under the deal will be Crazy Taxi, which is getting a comedy adaptation (via Variety). The screenplay will be written by Dan Gregor and Doug Mand, the duo behind the 2025 reboot of The Naked Gun. Neal H. Moritz and Toby Ascher of Original Film are also involved as producers alongside SEGA’s Toru Nakahara. Moritz and Ascher already work with the Japanese company on the Sonic movie adaptations.

The goal will be to bring to the movie the chaotic style that has defined Crazy Taxi since its arcade debut in 1999. In the games, players take on the role of taxi drivers who must race through cities at high speed, find shortcuts, perform stunts, and get passengers to their destinations before time runs out. The franchise is also returning to video games with Crazy Taxi: World Tour, currently scheduled for 2027.

Sonic will continue its relationship with Netflix following the three seasons of Sonic Prime. The new production will be an animated series developed by Carlos Stevens and Toru Nakahara, but it will not serve as a direct continuation of the previous show. According to SEGA’s description, Sonic and his friends will be presented as heroes in an adventure primarily aimed at preschool audiences, combining comedy, action, and stories about friendship.

The third announced project stands out because it involves a property that has not even made its video game debut yet. Netflix will produce a movie based on Stranger Than Heaven, the new game from RGG Studio, the team behind the Like a Dragon franchise. Toru Nakahara will also serve as a producer on the adaptation.

Scheduled for January 2027, Stranger Than Heaven follows a foreigner in early 20th-century Japan. The story will chronicle his journey from extreme poverty to his rise as a feared yakuza and, later, a powerful entertainment industry mogul. The project comes from a studio whose flagship franchise, Like a Dragon, has already surpassed 30 million units sold.

According to Shuji Utsumi, SEGA’s president and COO, the three projects are part of a broader strategy and represent only the beginning of the possibilities opened up by the partnership. Netflix has also been expanding its catalog of video game adaptations, with projects based on Assassin’s Creed, Gears of War, Minecraft, Magic: The Gathering, Clash of Clans, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, Splinter Cell, and Devil May Cry at various stages of production.

Last Word on the SEGA and Netflix Partnership

The announcement expands SEGA’s strategy of taking its properties beyond video games, while also showing that the company does not intend to limit this approach to the already established success of Sonic. Crazy Taxi is returning after years of being largely absent from SEGA’s major releases, while Stranger Than Heaven will receive a movie adaptation almost alongside its debut as a brand-new intellectual property.

The selection also brings very different franchises together under the same agreement. While Sonic already has an established presence in film and television, Crazy Taxi will receive its first major screen adaptation, and Stranger Than Heaven still has to establish itself among players. For now, SEGA and Netflix have not announced release dates for any of the three projects.