With video game adaptations currently printing money faster than a GTA cheat code—“Minecraft” dominating the box office and “The Last of Us” storming back onto HBO—Universal Pictures has decided it wants in on the action yet again.
Enter: “OutRun,” Sega’s retro arcade racer, now being revved up for the big screen with none other than Michael Bay in the director’s seat and Sydney Sweeney in the producer’s chair. Yes, really.
Bay, king of cinematic explosions and vehicular chaos, will also produce the film. Sweeney continues building her producing résumé. Though for now, she's not acting in this one—she’s just along for the production ride. However, Sweeney starring in a Michael Bay action movie would not be a far-fetched outcome either.
As for the plot? Your guess is as good as mine. So far, all we know is it's based on “OutRun,” the 1980s arcade game that made players feel like they were cruising through an '80s synthwave fever dream. The game is known more for vibes than story, so expect the movie to either invent a plot from scratch or somehow turn "drive fast in a red Ferrari" into a two-hour spectacle. Either way, Bay's the man for that job.
Jayson Rothwell (*Polar*, *Arachnid*) has been tasked with writing the script, which will probably include a lot of fast cars, neon, and very dramatic staring into rearview mirrors.
Universal is clearly riding high on its previous game-to-film wins— “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” raked in over $1.4 billion globally, while “Five Nights at Freddy’s” pocketed a cool $290 million.
Bay, best known for making big-budget, high-concept action films, has a style of filmmaking that can best be described as an assault to the senses; fast cutting, over stylization, slick cinematography and lots of explosions. He’s been attached to all sorts of projects these last five years, almost all of which still haven’t been shot.
Bay’s last film was 2022’s “Ambulance”. He also directed 2019’s “6 Underground” for Netflix. His most notable works include “Bad Boys,” “The Rock,” “Armageddon,” and “Transformers.” His best film, and it’s not even close, is 2014’s underseen “Pain and Gain.”