The next video game adaptation is making moves to become a reality. It has been announced that a Streets of Rage movie is in the works and it’s coming from John Wick creator Derek Kolstad.
Per Deadline, Kolstad wrote a spec script for the project which is set to be produced by dj2 Entertainment and Escape Artists, who had their hand in Sonic the Hedgehog and The Equalizer, respectively. It would seem that the success of the Sonic the Hedgehog films on the big screen is what’s really moving Streets of Rage forward. Like Sonic, Streets of Rage was originally developed by SEGA and first published on their Genesis console in 1991.
Streets of Rage followed a group of vigilantes that fight their way through the city. In addition to being filled with violent criminals, the vigilantes are also in pursuit of an evil mob boss. SEGA published the first three games in the franchise and they have since been ported and re-released on various platforms. The most recent entry was released in 2020.
Video game movies weren’t exactly dead at the box office but they seem to be making a pretty big resurgence. Sonic The Hedgehog 2 recently posted the biggest opening weekend for a video game adaptation with its $72 million+ start while Uncharted, released in February, has cleared $389.2 million worldwide as of this writing. In addition to the Streets of Rage news, it was also just announced that Jason Momoa is in negotiations to headline a Minecraft movie. There is definitely some box office viability with these titles so I can see why studios are staying attached to the bandwagon.
Are YOU excited for the Streets of Rage movie?