There are video games that almost seem designed to become movies.

Then there is Crazy Taxi.

Sega’s gloriously chaotic arcade game about driving passengers across a city at ridiculous speeds while ignoring almost every principle of responsible motoring is officially getting a live-action movie at Netflix.

And somehow, that is not even the strangest part of the announcement.

Netflix and Sega have confirmed a new multi-title partnership that includes a Crazy Taxi feature film, another animated Sonic the Hedgehog series and a live-action adaptation of Sega and RGG Studio’s upcoming Stranger Than Heaven.

So how do you make Crazy Taxi into a movie?

That is the obvious question.

The original Crazy Taxi hit arcades in 1999 before becoming one of the games most closely associated with Sega’s Dreamcast. Players chose a driver, collected passengers and then attempted to deliver them to their destinations as quickly as possible.

Driving on the pavement? Fine.

Flying off ramps? Encouraged.

Terrifying everyone else on the road? Essentially part of the job description.

There was not exactly an elaborate cinematic narrative waiting to be adapted.

Netflix has at least given us one major clue: the adaptation is being developed as a live-action comedy.

Dan Gregor and Doug Mand, who worked on the 2025 The Naked Gun reboot, are writing the film. Sonic franchise producers Neal H. Moritz and Toby Ascher are producing alongside Sega’s Toru Nakahara. No director, cast or release date has been announced yet.

That means almost anything more detailed about the story would currently be speculation.

Sega is clearly thinking beyond Sonic

The bigger story may actually be the partnership surrounding Crazy Taxi.

Sega and Netflix are also developing a new Sonic the Hedgehog animated series aimed at an upper-preschool audience. Carlos Stevens and Toru Nakahara are developing the project, which Netflix describes as energetic, comedic and emotionally grounded.

Then there is Stranger Than Heaven, the upcoming title from RGG Studio, the developer behind Like a Dragon/Yakuza. Netflix is developing that property as a live-action crime film.

The game is set in early 20th-century Japan and follows a foreigner whose life takes him from poverty into the worlds of organised crime and entertainment.

Three games. Three completely different audiences.

That makes the announcement considerably more interesting than simply “Netflix is making another video-game movie”.

Can Crazy Taxi actually work?

We don’t know, and at this point anyone claiming to know is guessing.

What we do know is that Crazy Taxi had personality. Its frantic gameplay, absurd driving, arcade scoring and punk-infused attitude made it instantly recognisable.

The challenge will be finding an actual story capable of supporting that energy for the length of a movie.

No pressure, then.

Somewhere, a passenger is already yelling that we are going the wrong way.