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Lionsgate Acquires Live-Action Streets of Rage Film
posted on by Alex Mateo
Entertainment news website Deadline reported on Wednesday that Lionsgate has acquired the upcoming live-action film adaptation of Sega's Streets of Rage game.
Creator of the John Wick franchise Derek Kolstad is writing the script. He is producing along with Toru Nakahara (live-action Sonic the Hedgehog film producer). dj2 Entertainment and Escape Artists will produce the film. dj2 Entertainment previously produced the live-action Sonic the Hedgehog films. Brady Fujikawa and Jon Humphrey are managing the project at Lionsgate with overseers Shuji Utsumi and Nakahara for Sega, Dmitri M. Johnson for dj2, and Tony Shaw for Escape Artists. Dj2's Dan Jevons and Escape Artists' Todd Black and Jason Blumenthal will also be producing.
Sega released the first installment in the Streets of Rage series (Bare Knuckle in Japan) for the Sega Mega Drive and Sega Genesis in 1991. The Streets of Rage 2 sequel game released in 1992 and Streets of Rage 3 released in 1994. Paris-based developer and publisher Dotemu collaborated with Paris-based company Lizardcube and Montréal-based Guard Crush Games to release Streets of Rage 4 in April 2020.
Variety reported in 2016 that Sega was planning a film or television adaptation of the franchise. At the time the report stated the adaptation was a collaboration between Stories International — the joint venture of Sega Group and Hakuhodo DY Group for film and television projects — and production company Circle of Confusion. Deadline's report from Monday stated Circle of Confusion is one of the companies that represents Kolstad.
Source: Deadline (Anthony D'Alessandro)
