Deadline‘s Alexandra Del Rosario is reporting that John Wick franchise scribe Derek Kolstad has penned a script on spec for a live-action treatment of popular side scrolling video game, Streets Of Rage.
The report on Monday comes more than a decade since the game’s development into live-action back in 2011, with one treatment being steered by SEGA/Hakuhodo DY Group offshoot, Stories International back in 2014; That report followed up in 2016 with announcement citing Stories’ joint venture with The Walking Dead producers at Circle Of Confusion.
Fast forward six years later in the wake of Paramount’s latest two-for-two sucessful adaptations of SEGA property, Sonic The Hedgehog, where the task of bringing Streets Of Rage to live now falls in the hands of Sonic producer dj2 Entertainment, alongside Escape Artists who produced The Equalizer films.
Streets Of Rage, which launched in 1991 and follows three young ex-cops as they take to the streets to crush an evil crime organization led by Mr. X, was one of multiple games to circle an adaptation in the original packet at Stories, including Shinobi, Crazy Taxi, Altered Beast and Virtua Fighter among others. No news has been given on these adaptations of late, while it looks like fans of the side-scrolling fighting game era may have something to celebrate on the big screen.
John Wick 4 releases in March 2023, and was also penned by Kolstad who has been attached to numerous projects over the years, including one other video game on par for live action, Just Cause, over at Constantin Film.