Hollywood has yet another upcoming video game movie that’s been added to the pile.
As reported by Deadline, Sega and Universal are bringing together a movie based on their arcade driving game hit, OutRun.
Originally released in 1986, OutRun was Yu Suzuki’s chance to take on a car racing game after his successes with the arcade motorcycle racing games Hang-On and Enduro Racer.
Suzuki conceived of a game where one could travel around the United States, and in contrast to the numerous Formula One simulators at the time, thought of a game where one could enjoy the experience of driving.
And so, even if you are somewhat racing to reach certain checkpoints, OutRun also places a lot of emphasis on presentations and that sweet 1980s aesthetic. Sega relented from setting the original game in America for a scenic tour of Europe instead.
In one of the most pivotal decisions for this game, they faithfully recreated the Ferrari Testarossa, after taking extensive photos of one such car at a time when it was a genuine rarity. Possibly as important to the racing experience was its very much city pop soundtrack, composed by Hiroshi Kawaguchi.
But Sega placed a lot of emphasis on immersion, making several versions of arcade cabinets. The most expensive and fully featured versions of the OutRun cabinets were full motion simulators that would turn and shake to follow the car’s motion. All versions made players consider tires, torque, gear ratios and other factors.
In so many words, OutRun isn’t quite the kind of game that’s conducive to a Michael Bay style blockbuster. And yet, Universal has tapped Michael Bay to produce and direct, under his Platinum Dunes Banner, alongside co-producer Sydney Sweeney and writer Jayson Rothwell.
I suspect most of our readers will know Sweeney from all her publicity photos all over social media, and then maybe movies and shows like Immaculate and Euphoria. But Sweeney also proved her Hollywood smarts betting on herself by producing Immaculate, which grossed $ 35 million off of a $ 9 million budget.
Sweeney is likely to star in this OutRun movie as well, and we imagine a lot of fans will love to have her playing the game’s famous front seat riding girlfriend. On Sega’s side, their COO and President Shuji Utsumi and Toru Nakahara will be looking over the project.
OutRun doesn’t have lore as deep as, say, Fallout, or The Last Of Us, but we think it would be reasonable to have doubts if this film will be any good or not. Sweeney and Bay are big Hollywood names with both hits and stinkers associated to them. With all that said, we are somewhat looking forward to how this will actually turn out.
