Shinobi: Sam Hargrave directing movie based on the Sega video game franchise

Universal Pictures has tapped Extraction director Sam Hargrave to helm Shinobi, a movie adaptation of the video game franchise created by Sega.

Plot details are being kept under wraps, but the original Shinobi game featured Joe Musashi as a modern-day ninja who confronts great evil. Ken Kobayashi (Sunny) is writing the script for the Shinobi movie, which will be produced by Marc Platt and Adam Siegel through Marc Platt Production. Dmitri M. Johnson will produce through Story Kitchen, with Toru Nakahara producing through Sega. Mike Goldberg will executive produce alongside co-producer Timothy I. Stevenson.

The original Shinobi arcade game was released in 1987. The franchise has grown to include over a dozen games, with the latest announced at last year’s Game Awards. Universal already has a couple of successful video game movies under its belt, including The Super Mario Bros. Movie (which grossed $1.35 billion) and Five Nights at Freddy’s (which grossed $297 million). The studio is moving forward with sequels to both films.

Sam Hargrave has a couple of projects in the works. He’s set to direct Matchbox, a live-action movie from Skydance and Mattel Films based on the iconic toy brand. John Cena will star in the project, with David Coggeshall and Jonathan Tropper penning the script.

He will also direct an adaptation of Kyle M. Stark’s graphic novel Kill Them All, which follows an “elite female assassin, who, after finding out she is going to be ‘terminated’ by the criminal syndicate she’s been loyal to, decides to take them out first. Joining forces with a hard-drinking ex-cop, she embarks on a relentless action-packed assault through the 15 floors of the Syndicate’s Headquarters. Her ultimate target is the Boss, with whom she has a complicated past.“

There’s also another Extraction sequel in development at Netflix with Hargrave returning alongside series star Chris Hemsworth. The actor has previously teased that he already has an idea of where Extraction 3 can go. “There is so much room for this franchise to expand and places where it can go,” Hemsworth said. “I’m excited about what that next adventure for Tyler Rake could be. We’ll see how this one does. We’ll see how people feel and respond. And if the world is craving another Tyler Rake adventure, I think it’d be something I’d be interested in seeing put up on screen.’ He grins. ‘I have an idea, but I won’t give it away here…“