A new multi-title pact puts Crazy Taxi, Sonic, and a Yakuza-studio crime saga on the same streaming slate.
Sega just handed Netflix the keys to three very different parts of its catalog. One is a yellow cab that has been flying off ramps since 1999. One is a hedgehog who already lives on both the big screen and the streamer. The third is a 50-year crime story that has not even shipped as a game yet.
The companies announced the multi-title collaboration on September 14 and 15, 2026. The first project is a feature film based on Crazy Taxi. A new animated Sonic the Hedgehog series is in development for younger kids. A live-action movie will adapt RGG Studio’s upcoming action-adventure Stranger Than Heaven.
No release dates or directors were named. The message was simpler: Sega wants these worlds on screen, and Netflix wants the fandoms that already show up.
Crazy Taxi Gets a Comedy Movie—and a New Game
The film is the lead title in the deal. Dan Gregor and Doug Mand will write it. They are the pair behind the 2025 Naked Gun reboot, plus Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and How I Met Your Mother. Neal H. Moritz and Toby Ascher of Original Film will produce with Sega’s Toru Nakahara, the same team that helped turn Sonic into a box-office franchise.
The pitch is the game’s pitch. Since the 1999 arcade debut, Crazy Taxi has been about a cabbie racing the clock through chaotic streets, jumping ramps, clipping traffic, and chasing tips to a punk-rock soundtrack. The movie is meant to keep that chaotic, comedic spirit.
It also lines up with a real revival. Crazy Taxi: World Tour is due in 2027 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC. Original creator Kenji Kanno is involved. The new game follows series regular Axel as he chases thieves who stole his cab across five cities, with online multiplayer and a classic arcade mode.
A vintage Crazy Taxi arcade cabinet. The 1999 racer is heading to Netflix as a comedy feature while Crazy Taxi: World Tour lands in 2027.
Moritz and Ascher said the film is “for anyone who’s spent hours behind the wheel of a yellow cab on their Dreamcast, with the music cranked up.” No director is attached. No one has said whether Axel, Gino, B.D. Joe, or Gus will appear by name. The writers’ recent work suggests broad, physical comedy rather than a grim reboot.
That is the right bet. Crazy Taxi was never subtle. It was a coin-op rush with The Offspring blasting and a timer that never let you breathe. If the movie can bottle that, it does not need lore.
Sonic Gets Another Show—This Time for Little Kids With Attitude
Netflix already has Sonic Prime, which ran three seasons from 2022. This new series is separate. It is in development with animation director Carlos Stevens (Love, Death + Robots) and Nakahara. The target is an “upper pre-school audience.” Sega describes it as high-voltage, comedic, and emotionally grounded, built for kids who want “a little edge, a little attitude, and a lot of ‘that’s my crew’ wish fulfillment.”
Nakahara put it shorter: expect something “cute yet cool.”
Sonic remains Sega’s most valuable character. The new Netflix series is aimed at older preschoolers and is separate from Sonic Prime.
That is a careful lane. Paramount’s live-action Sonic films already own family theatrical. Sonic Prime served the streamer’s existing kids slate. A third version risks overlap unless the tone is distinct. Sega is selling crew loyalty and a bit of bite, not another loop-de-loop recap.
Stevens’ Love, Death + Robots episode work suggests he can handle style. Whether a preschool brief gives him room is the open question. No episode count, studio, or premiere window was announced.
Stranger Than Heaven Goes Live-Action Before the Game Drops
The surprise is Stranger Than Heaven. RGG Studio—the team behind Yakuza / Like a Dragon—has the game locked for January 15, 2027 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PC, and Game Pass. Netflix is already developing a live-action crime film. Nakahara will produce.
The story spans about 50 years in 20th-century Japan. A foreigner, Makoto Daito, claws his way from destitute stranger to feared yakuza to entertainment tycoon. Official materials frame it as a saga of people with nowhere to go who fight for a home. The game also depicts the origins of the Tojo Clan. Yu Shirota portrays Daito in the game; Dean Fujioka is also in the cast.
Adapting a game that is still four months from launch is aggressive. It also fits how Sega is treating this title: as a long-form origin story, not a one-off brawler. Nakahara called the film a “badass action drama.” That is the RGG house tone—street fights, showbiz, loyalty, and time passing in public.
Casting for the movie was not announced. Neither was whether the film will compress the 50-year span or pick one era.
Why These Three, and Why Now
Brandon Riegg, Netflix vice president of nonfiction and transmedia, said the point is range. “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.”
Sega president and COO Shuji Utsumi struck a similar note. He said Netflix treats stories “across every kind of format” with craft, and that the fandoms “deserve storytelling that honors what makes each title special.” Nakahara added that the team is “just getting started.”
The pairing is not random. Sonic is the proven IP. Crazy Taxi is a revival year with a new game attached. Stranger Than Heaven is RGG’s next flagship, and live-action crime is a Netflix comfort zone. One deal covers comedy, kids animation, and period gangster drama.
Game-to-screen pipelines have been messy for years. This one at least names writers, producers, and tones up front. Whether the cab movie keeps the Offspring energy, whether the preschool Sonic has actual attitude, and whether the RGG film can carry five decades without flattening them—that is the work still ahead.
For now, Sega and Netflix have greenlit the fare. The meter is running.
AI Disclosure: This article was created with the assistance of artificial intelligence tools and was reviewed and edited by the Glowls News editorial team before publication.