Following the success of the recent Sonic the Hedgehog films and the continued surge of video game-related content in general, d2j Entertainment and Escape Artists are willing to risk anything, even their lives, on the Streets of Rage. According to Deadline, the classic Sega beat 'em up is making the jump to the big screen with the two companies producing. John Wick creator Derek Kolstad is also on board to write the script for the film.

Streets of Rage was the beat 'em up that really brought the arcade experience into people's homes. Up there with classics like Double Dragon and Final Fight, the original game puts players in the shoes of one of three former cops looking to clean up the mean streets and stop an evil organization, led by the mastermind Mr. X, from corrupting their city. The franchise had three titles from 1991 to 1994 before going dormant for some time outside of rereleases. Back in 2020 though, the franchise saw a resurgence thanks to the release of Streets of Rage 4, a modern sequel to the classic series for Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. For its 60th anniversary, Sega even mashed up the series with their modern darling Yakuza in a freeware title starring series mainstays Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Majima.

This'll be just the latest video game feather in dj2's cap. Beyond Sonic the Hedgehog and its recent sequel, the company is working hand-in-hand with Hazelight Studios, the team behind the critically acclaimed It Takes Two, to develop a television series and film based on the Game of the Year winner. They are also developing a Tomb Raider anime series for Netflix. Escape Artists, meanwhile, is best known for The Equalizer franchise, but they also produced Being the Ricardos and are involved in the upcoming Masters of the Universe film with Mattel.

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Image via Sega

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While Kolstad is known mostly for the modern action tentpole starring Keanu Reeves, he's been putting his writing skills to work for a number of other projects. He's currently developing a TV adaptation of Joe Madureira's comic series Battle Chasers and the Gerard Butler-led heist flick Just Watch Me. In terms of other video game projects, his name is attached to a series based on the Hitman games for Hulu. Among his recent credits are as a writer for Bob Odenkirk's action thriller Nobody and as an executive producer on Disney's The Falcoln and the Winter Soldier.

Little else is known about the film and how exactly it'll adapt the game's rather paltry story of "beat up criminals, save the city from corruption" to the big screen, but it sounds intriguing so far. We'll have more here on Collider as this latest video game adaptation gets underway.