In what might be one of the last video game franchises that you’d expect to get a live-action treatment in the modern era, Deadline has learned that a movie based on Sega’s classic beat’em up franchise, Streets of Rage, is in the works. No director has been attached to the project yet, but Derek Kolstad, the man responsible for writing the original John Wick (2017) film, will be penning the script.
The search for a composer should prove to be challenging one in the minor chance that the filmmakers truly care about the source material, as the charm of the original games was largely owed to the soundtracks from Japanese composer Yuzo Koshiro, who managed to come up with brilliant tracks that spanned house, techno, and other genres despite the limitations of Sega’s earlier hardware.
The Streets of Rage franchise made a return last year in the form of Streets of Rage 4, a new installment developed by Dotemu, Lizardcube, and Guard Crush Games that features cel-shaded graphics rather than the pixel art of the originals. It’s available to play on Xbox, PS4, and Nintendo Switch.
‘Streets Of Rage’ Film In Works; ‘Sonic’s dj2 Entertainment & Escape Artists To Produce Video Game Adaptation Scripted by ‘John Wick’s Derek Kolstad (Deadline)
Streets of Rage, developed and published by SEGA, first launched in 1991 via the Genesis home video game console. The side-scroller follows former police offers who battle a crime syndicate. Since the debut game, the Streets of Rage franchise has spawned sequels across numerous gaming platforms including the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. The franchise’s latest title, Streets of Rage 4, was released in April 2020 and has sold more than 2.5 million copies worldwide.
Sonic producer dj2 Entertainment and Escape Artists (Equalizer franchise) will produce the film adaptation.
Streets of Rage will be the latest project under dj2 Entertainment’s belt, following Sonic the Hedgehog 2‘s impressive box office performance. dj2 signed an overall deal with Amazon earlier in the year and also is looking to adapt The Game Awards winner It Takes Two for television and film.