Sega hasn't produced a good Shinobi video game in decades, but Shogun is popular so we're getting Shinobi movie

Deadline reported that a Shinobi film is in the works. This follows the success of Sonic the Hedgehog and, no doubt, with an eye towards the huge popularity of FX Shogun. The series began with a side scrolling arcade game in 1987 and found great success with sequels for the Mega Drive / Genesis. However, aside from a few (fairly decent) PlayStation 2 entries during the early 2000s and a forgettable 3DS title in 2011, Shinobi is not a regular part of the gaming scene.

Sega is working on a Shinobi remake. Leaked footage shows a side-scrolling game with a beautiful art style. The film is based loosely on the plot of the original arcade game, which saw ninja Joe Musashi fight the Zeed terrorists, who, for some reason, kidnapped all his students.

Ken Kobayashi has plenty of blanks to fill. Kobayashi has written for Hit-Monkey, Moonfall and his screenplay Move on is currently being developed at Columbia.

Sam Hargrave has been signed as director. Hargrave directed two Extraction films for Netflix. The first was the most watched original film in Netflix's history. The sequel was also hugely popular. He is also directing Mattel’s Matchbox film, and Paramount’s quaintly named Kill Them All. A brand tie-in that involves stabbing a lot of dudes with the katana would seem to fit well into his oeuvre.

There is also a whole host of producers: Marc Platt Adam Siegel Dmitri Johnson, Mike Goldberg Timothy I. Stevenson and Sega's Toru Nakahara.

Now that Hollywood has made a few decent videogame movies and seen their potential returns, they are everywhere. The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which grossed $1.4 billion in the last few years, was a big success. There have been Borderlands along the way and who knows where Shinobi will end. I hope they include the dog from Shadow Dancer somehow.