We have great news for fans of the Yakuza series, as it has been announced that Sega, 1212 Entertainment, and Wild Sheep Content are currently owrking on a live-action adaptation of Ryū ga Gotoku Studio's popular, and critically acclaimed video game franchise.
As reported by Variety, the Yakuza live-action will be produced by Netflix series Dark Producer Erik Barmack, and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark film Producers Roberto Grande and Joshua Long. According to sources, 1212 Entertainment and Wild Sheep Content are still looking for writers.
"Yakuza offers us a new playground in which to set compelling stories with complex characters in a unique environment that audiences have rarely seen before. The saga of Kazuma Kiryu has a built-in cinematic appeal – a mix of kinetic action with bursts of comedy, multiple converging storylines, and a gripping journey towards redemption," reads 1212 Entertainment's official statement.
Yakuza live-action movie producer Erik Barmack reveals that "With our background in telling global stories, we are excited to bring this huge project to global platforms."
The first title in the Yakuza series of video games was released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2, and has since been portedto other platforms. The game even received a fully fledged remake in the form of Yakuza Kiwami, which was released relatively recently on current-gen consoles.
By the looks of it, the live-action Yakuza series will be focusing on series main protagonist Kazuma Kiryu, although it isn't yet clear whether the story will be a new take on the character, or if it will be a video game-accurate adaptation of the story. Whatever the case, the filmmakers have 6 games chockfull of content to be inspired by.