John Wick writer Derek Kolstad is set to script a video game movie adaptation of Sega’s famous fighting brawler, Streets of Rage.
Streets of Rage is a popular series of side-scrolling video game by Sega for the Sega Genesis back in 1990s. It has a fourth version released in 2020. The videogame follows a handful of ex-police crime fighters to purge a city of its crime syndicate.
Streets Of Rage Movie In Development With John Wick Writer
Image: Sega
The first three games in the series were released between 1991 and 1994. Streets of Rage being the first of the series, introduced the four main characters. They are the protagonists Axel, Blaze, Adam and the main villain, Mr. X. The second entry is Streets of Rage 2. It had new music from composers Yuzo Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima, improved graphics with wider selection of moves. Streets of Rage 2 introduced two new characters: Eddie “Skate” Hunter, and Max Thunder. Like the original title, Streets of Rage 2 was playable on Sega’s Genesis, Master System, and Game Gear. The third game, Streets of Rage 3, was less favored by fans simply because it was too similar to the second game.
The fourth game, Streets of Rage 4, came two decades after. New characters and better graphics while staying true to the original brawler beat ’em up series generated positive reviews since its release in 2020.
Responding to this positive response and perhaps to identify a new franchise, a movie is now being developed. With the success of Sonic The Hedgehog movie and its sequel, Sega seems to be moving forward to making more movies based on their other video game franchises. This time, it’s Streets Of Rage.
d2j Entertainment and Escape Artists have partnered to produce the movie. d2j Entertainment is quite successful with Sonic The Hedgehog and has been growing its library of videogame based projects including Tomb Raider, Life is Strange and It Takes Two, to name a few. Escape Artists developed The Equalizer movies and The Magnificent Seven with a broader selection of genre through the years.
Streets Of Rage Movie In Development With John Wick Writer
Image: Sega
Reported by Deadline, Streets of Rage is in development for a movie adaptation. Stories International is the production arm and joint venture of renowned video game brand SEGA Group and Hakuhodo DY Group. They have quite the reputation for commercials and music videos. Back in 2016, they partnered with Circle of Confusion to develop Altered Beast and Streets of Rage.
Circle of Confusion has produced projects like American Ultra, The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead, and Rim of the World. They have also helped with projects like Black Panther, The Book of Boba Fett, Coco, The Crown, Conjuring, Dune, DMZ, Halo, Lost in Space, John Wick and more.
With John Wick‘s writer on board, fans expect the project is full of close-combat action. A good punch and smash scenes are in order and we await for the action in store.
