Video games and cinema are a long love affair, which continues for better and (often) for worse. This story is not ready to stop in view of the income generated by the various cinematographic adaptations of video games. This time, it’s the turn of a Sega franchise to appear on the big screen.
Video game adaptations that are multiplying on the small and big screen
Out of love for the franchises they have created and to make their fans happy, video game studios and publishers like to adapt games that have been successful in cinemas or in series. Well, okay, it’s mostly (often) out of greed. It must be admitted that the approach is tempting: when you adapt a work, its universe, its characters, the tone it adopts… All the main elements are already known to the fans. All that remains is to adapt the recipe a little to appeal to newcomers and to adapt the format, and that’s it!
Lately, it’s the excellent video game saga of Uncharted which had the right to a film adaptation with Tom Holland in the main role, for a mixed result. ofIt Takes Two to super mario brosPassing by The Last of Us or Borderlands, Many video game adaptation projects are currently underway, and the phenomenon is far, very far from ending.
We also learned through Deadline the existence ofa new film project adapted from a video game franchise signed Sega: Streets of Rage. This is made up of four very badass games qualified as “beat them all” (or “beat’em up”) which have their origins in the 90s and whose narrative framework is centered on the fight against a dangerous crime syndicate which makes the law.
From platform games to fighting games
In 2020, Sega surprised its world with a film sonic, adapted from the famous video game license featuring a particularly fast blue hedgehog. The latter has also made his return which has divided a lot a few weeks ago. Far from being defeated, the Japanese publisher is already working on a new film, this time adapted from Streets of Rage. The first installment was released in 1991 and was followed by three more games in 1992, 1994, and much later in 2020.
These are generally fighting games in which you beat up everything that moves, this is why Sega called on an expert in the field: Derek Kolstad, the director of John Wick starring Keanu Reeves. This one is in charge of the scenario. If we still don’t know who will be in charge of the production, we do know that the dj2 Entertainment studio, which has already worked on both sonicwill produce the feature film alongside the Escape Artists studio (The Equalizer).
Whether this information delights you or worries you, you will have to be patient anyway, since this franchise adaptation project Streets of Rage in cinema is still in its infancy.
