Space Channel 5 and Comix Zone are set to be dusted off from the vault and adapted into films, it has been revealed.
In a rather left-field turn of events, the Japanese game publisher Sega has announced plans to adapt Space Channel 5 and Comix Zone, two obscure video games from its 90s back catalogue, into films. Of course, Sega has already enjoyed considerable success in this area, having now had two very popular Sonic The Hedgehog movies in partnership with Paramount. However, whilst Sonic The Hedgehog remains Sega’s mascot and most popular character, you won’t find the protagonists of both Space Channel 5 and Comix Zone adorning posters, mugs and t-shirts due to the relative obscurity of the titles in which they appear.
Space Channel 5 was a cult classic dance game that saw a young fast food worker take on an alien invasion with the power of well-choreographed dance moves. Comix Zone featured a comic book writer getting sucked into his own creation and having to battle his way back out. Sega has been clearly emboldened by its success with the two Sonic films, the latter of which has made over $400m at the worldwide box office. A third film in the series has already been announced too. Still, the titles that have just been announced for development next seem like odd choices given that most gamers won’t have played them or even remember much about them if they did.
Sega’s partnership with Picturestart may offer the key here to understanding the thinking behind this move. Whilst the game publisher certainly has more recognisable properties in its vaults, such as Ecco The Dolphin, the characters from Streets Of Rage, Golden Axe or even Yazuka, the publisher may be holding out for an alliance with a major studio such as Paramount to spawn adaptation projects with these higher-value characters.
As such, this partnership with Picturestart might continue to see some of Sega’s lesser-known titles being brought to life if these first two projects should prove successful. Picturestart, producer of the recently-released critical hit Cha Cha Real Smooth, certainly seems keen to tap into the video games market having already begun development on an adaptation of Gearbox’s popular Borderlands franchise. We’ll bring you more on these two projects as we hear it.
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