A Streets of Rage movie adaptation is in the works by John Wick franchise creator Derek Kolstad, according to a report by Deadline. Kolstad reportedly wrote the film’s screenplay. Sonic the Hedgehog producer dj2 Entertainment and Escape Artists (Equalizer) will produce the adaptation, Deadline said.
The Sega franchise Streets of Rage saw its long-awaited video game follow-up in 2020 with Streets of Rage 4, continuing the side-scrolling beat ’em-up series that began with 1991’s Streets of Rage. The first game was released on Sega’s Genesis console and centered on ex-cops fighting a crime syndicate. The series took a decade-long hiatus after Streets of Rage 3 – barring re-releases – until 2020 when Streets of Rage 4 came out from Lizardcube, Guard Crush Games and Dotemu.
The latest release was a hit; Polygon editor-in-chief Chris Plante, who reviewed it for the website, said it was “everything [he] could have been wished for in a true Streets of Rage sequel.”
Production company dj2 Entertainment has a number of video game-inspired live-action adaptations in the works, including projects based on Disco Elysium, Life is Strange, and It Takes Two. Sega has aggressively pushed adaptations of its back catalogue, with limited success outside of the Sonic the Hedgehog films. The publisher has previously announced live-action adaptations of classic Sega brands like Shinobi, Altered Beast, and the more obscure Rent-A-Hero. (Kolstad’s film is the second Streets of Rage adaptation to be announced.)