Sega’s Like A Dragon Games Get Live-Action Series on Amazon in October

Amazon announced on Tuesday that it is producing a six-episode live-action series based on Sega‘s Like a Dragon (Ryū ga Gotoku) action game series titled Like a Dragon ~Beyond the Game~ (Ryū ga Gotoku ~Beyond the Game~). The episodes will debut on Amazon Prime Video in over 240 countries and territories in two batches on October 25 and November 1.

The series stars Ryōma Takeuchi (Kamen Rider Drive, Aozora Yell/Yell for the Blue Sky, The Deer King)
as protagonist Kazuma Kiryu. Masaharu Take (100 Yen Love, The Naked Director) is directing the series.

The series is partially based on the first game in the series, which was initially titled Yakuza in the West (the series transitioned to the title Like a Dragon, closer to its Japanese title, with the seventh game Yakuza: Like a Dragon in 2020). The story will center on Kiryu and three friends, initially in 1995, and then transitioning to 2005 as Kiryu gets out of a decade-long stint in prison.

Entertainment news source Variety previously reported in September 2020 that Sega is developing a live-action film adaptation of the franchise in collaboration with 1212 Entertainment and Wild Sheep Content. At the time of the report, Erik Barmack , Roberto Grande, and Joshua Long were producing the film.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Ryū ga Gotoku 8), the latest game in the series, launched on January 26 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC via Windows and Steam. The game sold 102,940 copies in Japan in its first three days.

Takashi Miike directed a 2007 live-action film adaptation of the franchise titled Yakuza: Like a Dragon, also based loosely on the plot of the first game in the series. The film had a theatrical screening in the United States in 2008, and Tokyo Shock released the film on home video in the United States in 2010.

Sources: Eiga Natalie, IGN (Daniel Robson)