Streets of Rage Movie Coming from Lionsgate

Movies

Lionsgate is taking it to the streets. Deadline exclusively reports that the film studio has acquired the film rights to Streets of Rage, the side-scrolling action video game series. Derek Kolstad, who wrote or co-wrote the first three John Wick movies and Nobody (and… ugh… two episodes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), will script the Streets of Rage movie, though aside from various producers associated with Lionsgate, Sega, and different video game companies, no other names are attached yet. Streets of Rage and its sequels follow a team of ex-cops and their compatriots as they punch, kick, and trashcan-lid-to-the-face their way through scores of thugs in their effort to clean up a crime-ridden city, making their way to Mr. X, the shadowy crime lord who rules the streets.

This should be good news; Streets of Rage is not only some of the most fun I’ve ever had playing video games, but it should be the easiest thing in the world to adapt. The story is pretty simple; just copy it from the games, include lots of action, get a director who can shoot a fight scene and some charismatic actors to bring the characters to life, and you should be golden. But this is also a video game adaptation, and they have a history of sucking, despite how simple many should be to make the jump to cinema. Hiring the guy who wrote the John Wick movies is a step in the right direction, but I’ll need to see more from the production before I get too optimistic. And I hope Adam Hunter is in the movie; he was my favorite in the original, and it annoyed me that the second one sidelined him.

Are you glad they’re making a Streets of Rage movie? Who do you want to play the characters? Will Street Fighter ever be unseated as the pinnacle of video game translations? (That’s a joke; I don’t need to be committed or anything.) Let us know in the comments, and stay tuned to Geeks + Gamers for more Sisyphean attempts to bring console heroes to the big screen!