Get Ready for a Stealthy Good Time as Samurai Favorite Shinobi Heads to the Big Screen!

This December, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will bring the fan-favorite hero back to big screen, but that's not the only game adaptation on the way from Sega. One of the company's classic arcade games, Shinobi, is also heading to theaters with an adaptation at Universal Pictures. And the project has already lined up a director.

Via The Hollywood Reporter, Sam Hargrave has signed on to direct the Shinobi movie. Hargrave is a former stuntman and stunt coordinator who directed both Extraction movies on Netflix starring Chris Hemsworth. Hargrave is also slated to direct Extraction 3 for the streamer. This makes Sam the perfect candidate to helm this action-packed movie as his experience in coordinating stunts would certainly be beneficial in bringing this story to life.

Ken Kobayashi will write the script for Shinobi. Although there's minimal details at the moment about what the film will cover, given Hargrave's direction and the games' expansive storyline, fans might speculate that this will be simply the beginning for a film franchise. Their input is a major indicator that we can look forward to having those wonderful storytelling elements integrated into this thrilling blockbuster!

The original Shinobi hit arcades in 1987, and placed gamers in control of Joe Musashi, a heroic Ninja who is forced to avenge his clan against a ninja crime syndicate called Zeed. Shinobi--which is the original Japanese word for ninja--spawned an additional 13 titles spanning the arcade and home consoles. The most recent game in the series was Shinobi 3D for the Nintendo 3DS in 2011.

A new Shinobi game was announced last December during The Game Awards. That title will feature a throwback 2D-style, but no further details have been revealed about when it may be released. So while there's been significant silence surrounding the new game title, a film adaptation might push the game developers to hasten the release date to be in alignment with the movie's timeline.

With production underway on the movie adaptation, could we see more from the Shinobi universe in the near future? For fans of both Shinobi and action movies in general, keep following gaming and entertainment news for more updates on this exciting project.

Sam Hargrave is known for pulling off intense action-packed flicks as shown by the blockbuster Extraction series, fans might wonder how this style of direction will fit in a historical ninja setting such as Shinobi.