One of the most beloved beat em up franchises of the 1990s is making the jump to the big screen. Sega’s Streets of Rage is getting a feature film adaptation at Lionsgate, and the project has now locked in its creative team.
Pat Casey and Josh Miller, the writing duo behind Paramount’s billion-dollar Sonic the Hedgehog film franchise, are penning the script. Jeymes Samuel, the filmmaker behind The Harder They Fall and The Book of Clarence, is attached to direct.
Casey and Miller step in following the exit of Derek Kolstad, who wrote an earlier draft of the screenplay after Lionsgate first picked up the rights in 2022. That acquisition came alongside Story Kitchen, the production company formerly known as dj2 Entertainment, which has built a reputation for shepherding video game adaptations to screen.
Plot details are being kept under wraps. According to Lionsgate, the film will lean heavily into the cult classic game known for its iconic characters, acclaimed electronic soundtracks, and brawler style action. For fans who grew up cleaning up the streets as Axel, Blaze, and the rest of the crew, that framing should sound exactly right.
Lionsgate film chief Erin Westerman pointed to Samuel’s style as the reason the studio brought him on. She described his work as visceral and explosive, and singled out his signature use of unforgettable music as a natural fit for a series defined by its soundtrack. Westerman added that the goal is to serve longtime fans while welcoming newcomers to the franchise.
The pedigree here runs deep. Casey and Miller helped turn Sonic the Hedgehog into a trilogy that has grossed more than a billion dollars worldwide, and the pair are also known for the Universal franchise Violent Night starring David Harbour. They are currently writing the horror comedy feature Dead Drunk for producer Graham King’s GK Films. Samuel wrote, directed, and produced the BAFTA-winning The Harder They Fall, then followed it with The Book of Clarence.
Streets of Rage remains a heavyweight in Sega’s catalog. The series was one of the most popular video game franchises of the 1990s and has held up as a strong seller across the decades. The franchise returned with a fourth installment in 2020, which moved more than 2.5 million copies in its first year, climbing to 20th on the U.S. downloads chart and 14th on the U.K. sales chart. That comeback proved the appetite for the brand is still very much alive.
On the production side, the film will be produced by Sega’s Toru Nakahara, Story Kitchen’s Dmitri M. Johnson, Michael Lawrence Goldberg and Timothy I. Stevenson, and Escape Artists’ Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Tony Shaw, along with Kolstad. Casey and Miller are executive producing, with Elena Sandoval serving as an executive producer for Story Kitchen.
There is no release window or casting news yet, but with a proven writing team, a distinctive director, and a studio that clearly understands the assignment, the Streets of Rage movie has a real shot at being the kind of adaptation the franchise deserves. We will keep you posted as more details roll out.
Sources: Variety
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