Streets of Rage Film From John Wick Creator in the Works

Classic ‘90s beat-em-up Streets of Rage looks to be the latest video game to get its own movie. According to Deadline, the upcoming video game adaptation is currently in the works with John Wick creator Derek Kolstad writing the script.

It certainly feels like a good time for SEGA to adapt more of its existing properties, with Sonic the Hedgehog 2 dominating the box office and impressing critics.

Streets of Rage first appeared on the SEGA Genesis back in 1991 and has spawned a number of sequels. The side-scrolling beat-em-up tells the story of two former police officers taking to the streets to bring down a nefarious crime syndicate.

Since the game’s debut, Streets of Rage games have appeared on Xbox One, PS4, and even the Nintendo Switch. Among gamers of a certain age, Streets of Rage is often considered a classic title, so a big screen adaptation from a successful action director feels like a very natural choice.

Streets of Rage will be dj2 Entertainment’s latest video game adaptation, following on from Sonic the Hedgehog 2’s colossal box office performance. The company will also produce an adaptation of the BAFTA Game Award-winning title, It Takes Two.

Meanwhile, Derek Kolstad is busy working on Just Watch Me – the upcoming Gerard Butler heist movie based on Dexter writer Jeff Lindsay’s hit novels. But while John Wick 4 and 5 are currently in the works, they will be moving ahead without Kolstad.

The most recent Streets of Rage game arrived in the form of Streets of Rage 4 back in 2020 and was met with plenty of hype.

IGN’s own review said: “Streets of Rage 4 delivers the greatest hits of the classic series and is at its best when played with at least one friend. If the primary focus was delivering a traditional Streets of Rage experience with a modern coat of paint, it absolutely succeeds. But while it layers on a few new and interesting mechanics, it’s still a very conservative update to the quarter-century-old format that feels like a slave to the past.”

How this will translate to the big screen remains to be seen.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Author: Ryan Leston. [Source Link (*), IGN All]

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