Streets of Rage movie, adapted from the game of the same name: written by John Wick creator

I hope you’re not sick of the current avalanche of video game adaptations yet, because another fun-sounding one is on the way. Lionsgate has won the rights to make a Streets of Rage movie, which is written and produced by John Wick creator Derek Kolstad.

Production companies dj2 Entertainment and Escape Artists, who are involved in the Sonic the Hedgehog films, are also involved in the production.

Streets of Rage is in the works

It was reported earlier this year that Kolstad was working on a Streets of Rage film. While the games don’t exactly have a rich narrative to speak of, the beat-em-up series fits right in with writer Kolstad’s violent and raw action oeuvre.

“When dj2 CEO Dmitri M. Johnson. first mentioned the idea of making a Streets of Rage movie, I instantly went crazy,” Kolstad said in a statement, according to Variety.

Lionsgate will also release the Borderlands movie, on which filming was completed last year, but does not yet have a release date. Among the many, many other movies and series based on the games that are in the works is a Ghost of Tsushima movie, on which Chad Stahelski, director of all four John Wick movies, is taking the reins.

Streets of Rage, developed and published by Sega, was first released in 1991 via the Genesis video game console. Since the game’s debut, the Streets of Rage franchise has spawned sequels on numerous gaming platforms, including Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. The most recent title in the franchise, Streets of Rage 4, was released in April 2020 and has sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide.

Widely known as one of Sega’s most popular franchises of the early 90s, the original Streets of Rage trilogy still has an enthusiastic fan base drawn to its vintage aesthetic and EDM soundtrack. The fighting games feature former cops taking on underground criminal gangs. Games offers very little in the way of story, which gives the film a lot of freedom.