'Crazy Taxi' Deal Marks Another Turn for Sega

Jul 03 2001

Sega said Monday that it has optioned its hit game "Crazy Taxi," in which drivers speed through city streets trying to rack up the highest fares, to an independent Hollywood studio.

Tokyo-based Sega said it optioned the game to Goodman/Rosen Productions, which will enlist action films director Richard Donner to produce and direct a movie based on the property. Donner is most recently known for the blockbuster Lethal Weapon movie franchise, starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover. The production duo of Gary Goodman and Barry Rosen are known for syndicated television movies and series, which includes the Highlander franchise.

The deal underscores the dramatic restructuring under way at Sega, which dropped out of the hardware business last year after failing to make headway against entrenched market leaders Sony and Nintendo. One of the oldest videogame makers, Sega has shifted its focus to making games for the remaining console manufacturers and Microsoft, which is launching its Xbox games player later this year. In the spring, Sega, which has had hit titles such as "Sonic the Hedgehog," inked deals with Sony and Microsoft to produce versions of its games for the two systems.

Sega is also hoping to capitalize on the recent buzz over videogame-turned-films such as "Tomb Raider" and "Final Fantasy," both of which were big hits on the PC and game consoles. "Crazy Taxi," Sega says, has sold 1 million units worldwide. In about a month, Tomb Raider the movie has raked in close to $100 million at the box office.

The goal of the movie deal, however, is not just filmed entertainment for videogame properties, said Jane Thompson, Sega's director of licensing and character development. The payoff will eventually come from potentially lucrative merchandising deals that develop based off of the movies. "With licensing programs, you need to get [filmed] entertainment before merchandising," she said.

No financial details of the deal were made available.

It's not the first time that Sega has tested the waters in Hollywood. Five years ago, Sega landed an option with an undisclosed Hollywood company for a big screen adaptation of "Sonic The Hedgehog." The company declined to comment further on the deal, which was never exercised or turned into a film. "Five years ago, [Sony] PlayStation and Saturn [Sega's games player] were duking it out," Thompson said. "Things weren't nearly as mass market. In the past three years, this whole category has exploded."

"Sonic" eventually became the topic of several animated series on network and syndication, both produced by Dic Entertainment.

"Crazy Taxi" won't be Donner's first brush with fictionalized characters borrowed from other media. Donner first made his name as the director of Superman: The Movie and Superman II, starring Christopher Reeve and Gene Hackman in 1978 and 1980.

"I loved playing 'Crazy Taxi,' and I realized immediately that it had the potential to be a big summer event movie," said Donner in a prepared statement. "Sega's game franchise has the perfect mix of action, humor and great characters to translate to the big screen."