Sega expands transmedia strategy with Netflix Crazy Taxi film
- Crazy Taxi is being adapted as a feature film.
- Sonic will receive a new animated series aimed at an upper pre-school audience.
- Stranger Than Heaven will be adapted into a live-action film.
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Sega has expanded its transmedia strategy through a new collaboration with Netflix to bring a Crazy Taxi film to the streaming service alongside adaptations of Sonic and Stranger Than Heaven.
The first project from the collaboration will be a feature adaptation of Crazy Taxi, written by Dan Gregor and Doug Mand, the writing duo behind the 2025 reboot of The Naked Gun.
Neal H. Moritz, Toby Ascher and Toru Nakahara, producers behind the Sonic franchise, will produce.
The slate will span live-action comedy, kids’ animation and live-action crime, showcasing different parts of Sega’s catalogue.
Three adaptations
A new animated Sonic series is also in development with Carlos Stevens and Toru Nakahara, targeting an upper pre-school audience with a comedic and emotionally grounded approach.
RGG Studio’s Stranger Than Heaven will receive a live-action film. Set in early 20th-century Japan, it follows a foreigner who rises from destitution to become a feared yakuza and entertainment tycoon.
The Crazy Taxi film will draw on the franchise’s chaotic driving and comedic identity, while the latest game, Crazy Taxi: World Tour, is scheduled for 2027.
“We’ve watched Netflix take on stories across every kind of format and treat each one with real craft, and seeing that same dedication applied to Sonic, Crazy Taxi, and Stranger Than Heaven is something we at SEGA are incredibly proud to be a part of,” said Sega president and COO Shuji Utsumi.
“The fandoms of these games deserve storytelling that honors what makes each title special, and we know Netflix shares that commitment. This is just the start of what these titles can become.”
Netflix VP of Nonfiction and Transmedia Brandon Riegg commented: “With Crazy Taxi, Sonic, and Stranger Than Heaven, we get to work across three completely different eras of SEGA’s catalog, celebrating everything fans love, while introducing them to new audiences.”
