A movie adaptation of the classic side-scrolling beat ’em up video game series Streets of Rage has been acquired by Lionsgate.
As reported by Deadline (opens in new tab), the Streets of Rage movie is being written by Derek Kolstad, a filmmaker best known for creating the John Wick franchise. Kolstad also wrote two episodes of the Disney Plus series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. He’s also signed on to produce the movie alongside Sega’s Toru Nakahara, who produced the first two Sonic movie adaptations; dj2 Entertainment’s Dmitri M. Johnson, Timothy I. Stevenson, and Dan Jevons; and Escape Artists’ Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Tony Shaw
News of the Streets of Rage movie adaptation first surfaced in a Deadline (opens in new tab) report from April, but at the time the rights had yet to be scooped up by a distribution company. The fact that the adaptation has been picked up by a major studio is a major development and significantly increases the chance that this thing actually releases one day.
“When Dmitri first mentioned the idea of cracking a Streets of Rage movie, I was so immediately freaking in,” Kolstad said in a statement. “And to play with Sega? The 10-year-old me is still grinning.”
“The game has a rich world and narrative, and we’re thrilled to be reuniting with Derek to bring it to life,” said Lionsgate’s president of production, Erin Westerman.
It’s far too early to know whether Streets of Rage will join the ranks of the best video game movies ever, but there’s plenty of good stuff to stream on our list of the Best Netflix movies.
