Netflix and SEGA have announced a new multi-title partnership covering three major game properties, with Crazy Taxi, Sonic the Hedgehog and STRANGER THAN HEAVEN all receiving new screen adaptations. The collaboration includes a Crazy Taxi feature film, a new Sonic animated series aimed at younger audiences and a live-action STRANGER THAN HEAVEN movie. Netflix and SEGA have not announced release dates for any of the three projects.
Crazy Taxi is the first project detailed under the deal. The live-action comedy will be written by Dan Gregor and Doug Mand, the writing duo behind the 2025 reboot of The Naked Gun, while Sonic film producers Neal H. Moritz and Toby Ascher will produce through Original Film alongside SEGA producer Toru Nakahara. Netflix says the adaptation is intended to preserve the chaotic, comedic spirit that has defined Crazy Taxi since its arcade debut in 1999.
The announcement arrives as SEGA is separately reviving the game series with Crazy Taxi: World Tour, which is currently scheduled for release in 2027. The new game brings the franchise back with a larger single-player campaign and competitive multiplayer, giving SEGA a current game to support alongside the Netflix adaptation. Netflix has not said whether the film will directly adapt World Tour or instead draw more broadly from the franchise’s characters and arcade-era identity.
Sonic is also returning to Netflix in a new animated series, separate from Sonic Prime. Carlos Stevens and Toru Nakahara are developing the project, which Netflix describes as an upper-preschool series built around Sonic and his friends acting as a team of heroes. The company says the show will combine comedy, action and emotionally grounded stories, while retaining some of the attitude traditionally associated with Sonic.
That approach makes the new series notably different from Sonic Prime, which ran for three seasons on Netflix and targeted a somewhat broader children’s audience through its multiverse storyline. No voice cast, animation studio or release window has been announced for the new show. SEGA’s continued expansion of Sonic outside games also fits with the company’s broader strategy of building its major properties across entertainment formats, something reflected in SEGA’s emphasis on fans engaging with its IP beyond the games themselves.
The third project is a live-action film based on STRANGER THAN HEAVEN, the upcoming action-adventure game from Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio. Netflix describes the story as following a foreigner in early 20th-century Japan who rises from poverty to become a feared yakuza and eventually an entertainment tycoon. The film is still early enough that Netflix has not announced a director or cast, with Toru Nakahara currently listed as producer.
STRANGER THAN HEAVEN is itself scheduled to launch on January 15, 2027 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. The game has already attracted attention for its decades-spanning crime story and unusually high-profile cast, while Steam achievement data has also revealed additional story progression details ahead of release. Netflix says its adaptation will provide a new lens on the game’s world rather than simply announcing a direct scene-for-scene recreation.
The partnership significantly broadens SEGA’s existing relationship with screen adaptations. Sonic has already become one of the company’s biggest entertainment properties outside games, while Crazy Taxi and STRANGER THAN HEAVEN represent very different parts of SEGA’s catalog: one an arcade comedy built around reckless driving, the other a crime drama from the studio behind Like a Dragon. Netflix is similarly continuing its push into game adaptations across live action, animation and other formats.
SEGA President and COO Shuji Utsumi said the company was proud to see Netflix working across three very different properties, while Nakahara characterized the intended tones as cute but cool for Sonic, deliberately chaotic for Crazy Taxi and a harder-edged action drama for STRANGER THAN HEAVEN. Netflix, meanwhile, says the partnership is designed to introduce SEGA’s established game worlds to new audiences while retaining the qualities that made them recognizable in the first place.
For now, all three projects remain in development without release dates. Crazy Taxi has the most detailed creative team attached, while Sonic has a clearly defined audience and STRANGER THAN HEAVEN has only early production information. The agreement nevertheless gives Netflix and SEGA three adaptations spanning live-action comedy, children’s animation and live-action crime drama under a single newly announced partnership.
