A film adaptation of the classic Sega driving game OutRun is currently in the works at Universal, according to a new report from Deadline.
The project reportedly has Michael Bay (Transformers, Bad Boys, Armageddon, The Rock) attached to direct, with the writer Jayson Rothwell (Polar, Silent Night, and Zemanovaload) penning the script.
The actress Sydney Sweeney (Immaculate) is also set to produce, but apparently won't star in the film. She will do so, alongside Bay and his partner Brad Fuller from Platinum Dunes, as well as Sega's Toru Nakahara (Sonic the Hedgehog 1-3, Knuckles, Golden Axe). Meanwhile, the current Sega Corp president/COO Shuji Utsumi will also have a supervisory role, overseeing the development of the project.
Video game adaptations are obviously having a bit of a moment right now, with the Sonic the Hedgehog series, Super Mario Bros Movie, and The Minecraft Movie all doing tremendously well at the box office, while shows like The Last Of Us and Fallout continue to generate a lot of interest on streaming services. As a result, we've seen a ton of new projects entering development at different production companies to search for the next big hit — many of which we don't necessarily expect to come to fruition.
This includes a bunch of adaptations of old Sega titles, like Space Channel 5, Comix Zone, Golden Axe, Shinobi, and countless others.
Given the original 1986 arcade OutRun basically saw players driving from A to B in a fancy sports car, we're certainly interested to see how Bay and Rothwell are planning to stretch that premise out past a 60-minute runtime. But, unfortunately, as of right now, plot details are pretty scarce, meaning we don't really have much insight into what they are planning.
It's probably safe to say, though, that we can expect some fast cars and over-the-top explosions — at least judging from Bay's previous work over the years.