The John Wick guy is writing a Streets of Rage movie and we’re pumped

Remember earlier this year when there were rumours of a Streets of Rage movie adaptation? Well, it’s happening and it’s coming from the dude responsible for some of the most beloved action flicks of the 21st century.

The classic side-scrolling Sega beat ’em up, which enjoyed a renaissance with a brilliantly fun fourth edition in 2020, is getting the big screen treatment with the creator of John Wick penning the script.

Variety reports that Lionsgate has acquired the rights and has enlisted Derek Kolstad to write and produce the film. Also on board is the production company dj2, which is known for its work on adapting Sonic, and is also helping Amazon to adapt Mass Effect for a Prime Video series.

“When Dmitri (meaning dj2 CEO Dimitri Johnson) first mentioned the idea of cracking a ‘Streets of Rage’ movie, I was so immediately freaking in,” Kolstad says following the announcement. “And to play with Sega? The 10-year-old me is still grinning.”

Streets of Rage remains best known for the trilogy of Sega Mega Drive (or Genesis for our US readers) games in the early-mid nineties. The first two, at least, set the standard for the genre and were a big deal for Sega in the 16-bit wars with Nintendo.

The narrative of a bunch of crime fighting vigilantes unafraid to mix it up with brutal gangs, organised crime bosses, and crooked cops seems perfect for a big screen adaptation.

We’re sure there’ll be some tremendously satisfying big fight choreography, and some buff dudes and babes taking on the roles of iconic characters like Adam, Blaze and Axel. And, if we could get Yuzo Koshiro back on soundtrack duties, that would be nice too.

It is, of course, difficult to have any great faith that this will actually be good when so many game-to-movie adaptations have fallen short down the years. If this could be more Sonic The Hedgehog than Uncharted, that’d be great. Thanks.

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