Lionsgate picks up Streets of Rage movie, with John Wick writer on board

So yeah, Mr. X, I’m thinking I’m back

The Streets of Rage are headed to the silver screen. Lionsgate has picked up the film adaptation of the beat ’em up Streets of Rage, with John Wick writer Derek Kolstad writing.

This news was reported on earlier this year by Deadline. Today’s confirmation sees the Streets of Rage project finding a home at Lionsgate, with Kolstad producing alongside Toru Nakahara. Dj2 Entertainment’s Dmitri M. Johnson, Timothy I. Stevenson, and Dan Jevons are also on board, as well as Escape Artists’ Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, and Tony Shaw.

Dj2 Entertainment is important to note, as the company worked on the recent Sonic the Hedgehog film series and is also looking to adapt It Takes Two.

Streets of Rage saw a bit of a revival, thanks to the 2020 release of Streets of Rage 4 that went over pretty well. It’s a classic in the beat ’em up genre, and it’s easy to see how someone behind the John Wick series would gravitate to a property like this.

“When Dmitri first mentioned the idea of cracking a Streets of Rage movie, I was so immediately freaking in,” Kolstad said in a statement via Variety. “And to play with Sega? The 10-year-old me is still grinning.”

A new adaptation

This adds another video game to the long list of upcoming video game adaptations. It’s become a popular trend, as productions like Arcane and Sonic the Hedgehog have worked out pretty well. Even Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and The Witcher, based off media properties that existed before their game counterparts, saw boosts thanks to their series’ successes.

For Streets of Rage? I’m just hoping for some brawling action with the series’ best. I could easily see a found-family story about a rag-tag crew of fighters working here. And it’s a good excuse to play some more Streets of Rage, too.