Persona adaption likely as Sega uses Atlus for TV, film opportunities

By Sean Lawson,

Persona fans may get to see all their favourite characters in a brand new light. After Sega found success in the recent adaptations of Sonic, the company is now setting its sights on Atlus and its catalogue of iconic IPs.

Game-to-film adaptations aren't usually anything to write home about. In fact, they mostly get a lot of flak from viewers who adore the original source material. Examples that immediately spring to mind are Need for Speed, Far Cry, Bloodrayne, and The House of the Dead — the list could keep going quite honestly. Also, it is worth noting that 3 out of 4 of those movies listed are works from Uwe Boll, a director famously known for butchering any video game he tries to make a movie out of — so maybe keep your distance from that one.

Sega is looking to capitalise on the recent Sonic the Hedgehog movie success

P5 JPG screenshot 7Could best boys Kanji and Ryuji be making a live-action debut?

Sega has recently seen great success in adapting the iconic game series, Sonic the Hedgehog, into two movie adaptations that have gone on to be box office smash hits. It would seem Sega has seen this success and would like to keep that momentum going and has now set its sights on some of Atlus' most legendary IPs.

As reported by IGN in an exclusive interview with Toru Nakahara, Sega's lead producer on the live-action Sonic the Hedgehog films. Sega is looking to expand its storytelling forms in new and exciting ways and it has always been an "important part of Sega's overall business strategy" to expand outside of just the video game realm.

P5 JPG screenshot 5Which Persona character would you like to see brought to life?

Nakahara went on to describe Atlus' games as: "worlds that are filled with high drama, cutting-edge style and compelling characters." Expanding on Persona, he said: "Stories like those from the Persona franchise really resonate with our fans and we see an opportunity to expand the lore like no one has seen — or played — before."

Atlas has a plethora of iconic IPs for Sega to explore. Sure, Persona 5 and Persona 4 Golden are two of the most legendary titles in the mix, but games like Catherine or the Shin Megami Tensei series have real weight to also have successful TV or movie spin-offs. Catherine delves deep into relationships and cheating, while also giving us a fantastical and horrific supernatural element that would translate great to the screen. Whatever may come, this is exciting news for fans of Atlus as hopefully in the near future we will see some of our favourite games getting new and unique stories to dive on into.

Nakahara confirmed that Sega and Atlus are working together as we speak to bring this plan to fruition: "Together, Sega and Atlus, are working to bring these stories and worlds to life through new mediums and for new audiences."

Catherine Full BodyWould you like to see a Catherine TV or movie adaptation?

Persona is currently celebrating 25 years of JRPG goodness and along with the celebration there has been several unveilings. Most recently was the announcement of Persona 4 Golden and Persona 3 Portable coming to PS4 consoles, and Persona 5 Royal stealing our hearts on October 21st, 2022 on the PS5. We also had the re-release of Persona 4 Arena: Ultimax back in March which was a nice, yet unexpected surprise.

I, for one, can't wait to see what becomes of this possible Persona live adaptation. I have been a fan of the Persona series ever since I purchased a PS Vita many moons ago. Persona 4 Golden was my first introduction to the franchise and it absolutely blew me away — I never did quite get all the Persona 4 Golden trophies though. I did however manage to get all the Persona 5 trophies and Persona 5 Royal trophies, so I think that makes up for my failure in Persona 4!

Are you guys excited about a potential Persona live adaptation? Or are you more excited for Persona 3, 4, and 5 to drop in the near future on current consoles? Let me know in the comments below! Also, tell me who your favourite Persona characters are!
Sean Lawson
Written by Sean Lawson
Staff Writer Sean focuses on the geekiest Sony news. He specializes in PlayStation trophies, the best PS Plus games, RPGs, and fighting games. Sean uses his years of experience to cover Dragon Age The Veilguard for PS5, all while he dives into his favorite game series like Mass Effect, Tomb Raider, and Persona.
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