Gamers will soon be able to experience the story of Yu Suzuki's first chapter of Shenmue without ever picking up a controller. Sega has announced that special screenings of its new film, Shenmue: The Movie, will be shown in Japan next month.

The film will be a retelling of the Dreamcast RPG's story, which will be shown using actual scenes from the game. Further details on the game-to-movie conversion are unknown, although it is possible that extra scenes may be added, and existing ones could be altered to allow for a more cinematic progression. As well, it has been decided that Shenmue: The Movie will use English voice acting across the world. This means that it will have to be shown with subtitles even in Japan, regardless of the fact that the game is set there, and contains a mostly Japanese cast.

Shenmue: The Movie will be revealed on January 20th in Tokyo, with four other showings opening the following week in Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka and Sapporo. There is currently no word on when it will be shown here in North America, although given the language selection, the film will undoubtedly be headed over soon after its Japanese premiere.