Just in time for Gen Alpha to turn millennials to dust by asking, “What’s a taxi?” and the follow-up, “Oh, like a Waymo but with a driver and health insurance,” Variety reports that Netflix is getting in the Crazy Taxi business. The film, written by Naked Gun reboot scribes Dan Gregor and Doug Mand, is part of a multi-title deal between Netflix and Sega, including a new Sonic The Hedgehog TV series and a Stranger Than Heaven movie.
Most importantly for anyone who spent many a sleepover hovering over the Dreamcast for warmth as the dulcet tones of Dexter Holland pumped from the speakers of a Panasonic CRT, Crazy Taxi drives onto Netflix decades after what feels like decades of inactivity. Aside from a series of ports, mobile games, and the quasi-related Taxi Chaos releases, there has not been a proper Crazy Taxi game since 2002’s Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller. However, thanks to several earworms written by The Offspring for the soundtrack and addictive, easy-to-learn driving mechanics, the series has lingered in the cultural imagination. Netflix and Sega believe that now that no one has played the game in 24 years, it’s time for a movie. We’re calling that the Golden Axe strategy.
Additionally, Netflix is putting together a new Sonic animated series for a preschool audience. Netflix previously ran three seasons of a different Sonic cartoon, Sonic Prime. However, unlike Prime, according to Sonic producer Toru Nakahara, the new series is a “high-voltage, comedic, yet emotionally grounded series built for kids who want to feel a little edge, a little attitude, and a lot of ‘that’s my crew’ wish fulfillment.” On the other end of the spectrum, Netflix is also taking a chance on a Stranger Than Heaven movie, which is based on the 2027 game from the makers of Like A Dragon: Yakuza—for those counting, a Like A Dragon show ran for a second on Prime Video in 2024.
There have been attempts to put Crazy Taxi on the big screen, including one by the late Richard Donner, announced in 2006. That obviously never happened, which is a shame because, at the time, Donner said he was “doing a lot of experimentation” with the film and “trying things no one’s really played around with.” “You can do a lot more with the camera work in a movie to make the action sequences feel like those in the game,” he continued. “While a lot of video games are set in science-fiction environments or fantasy worlds, Crazy Taxi is set in New York City with a Russian cab driver. If you do this right, it’ll be a lot of fun.”
No release date for Crazy Taxi has been announced, but there is a new game scheduled for 2027: Crazy Taxi: World Tour. If a movie is what it takes to get a new Crazy Taxi, then so be it.
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