Netflix is bringing the Persona franchise to the screen in live-action form, tapping a veteran television writer to lead the charge. The streaming giant has begun development on a series based on Sega and Atlus' popular RPG, with Star Trek: Picard and 9-1-1 writer Christopher Monfette attached as showrunner, writer, and executive producer.
The project brings together a notable production team. Shawn Levy and Robert Atwood of 21 Laps, the company behind Stranger Things, are executive producing alongside Dmitri M. Johnson, Michael Lawrence Goldberg, and Timothy I. Stevenson from Story Kitchen. Sega producer Toru Nakahara is also involved in an executive producer capacity. Netflix declined to comment on the adaptation.
Details about the show's narrative direction remain sparse at this early stage. The live-action series could draw from a specific Persona game or forge its own path entirely. The franchise offers considerable material to work from, spanning five mainline entries since 1996 plus numerous spin-offs and remakes. The most recent mainline installment, Persona 5, debuted in 2016 and was expanded through Persona 5 Royal in 2024, introducing audiences to a group of supernatural thieves known as the Phantom Thieves.
No casting announcements or release timeline have been announced as the project remains in early development stages.
21 Laps has established itself as a significant player in prestige television through Stranger Things and has expanded into film production with credits including Deadpool & Wolverine, which Levy directed. The company has other film and television projects in various stages of development.
Story Kitchen has built a track record in video game adaptations, having backed Sega's successful live-action Sonic the Hedgehog films. The company is pursuing additional game-to-screen projects based on properties like Sifu, It Takes Two, Just Cause, and Life is Strange.
Author Emily Chen: "Netflix's Persona play is smart industry strategy, but the proof will be in execution: whether they treat the franchise's intricate character work and dark mythology seriously or reduce it to a generic supernatural teen drama."
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