Video game adaptations, once something of a joke, now seem to be the hottest thing in Hollywood. They realize that if you make something good, there is a huge audience that will flock to it. Still, I didn't put Sega's 2D brawler "Streets of Rage" on my silver screen bingo card.

Street of Rage debuted on the Mega Drive and was a brilliant attempt to bring the magic of arcade games like Final Fight into the living room. Two sequels were released for the console, with Streets of Rage 2 generally regarded as the best of the series, but it was put in storage until 2020, when DotEmu developed the excellent Streets of Rage 4.

Lionsgate has acquired the rights to the series (thanks, Variety) and Derek Kolstad will both write and produce. Kolstad is best known as the writer of "John Wick" and its sequels, and is someone who knows how to put kung fu chops in his dialogue.

"When Dmitri first mentioned the idea of ripping off the 'Streets of Rage' movie, I was immediately hooked. And to play with Sega."

"Ten-year-old me is still grinning.

Lionsgate is also currently working on a "Borderlands" movie, which will no doubt be excruciating. The producers include Toru Nakahara of Sega, who worked on the first two Sonic films, Dmitri M. Johnson, Timothy I. Stevenson, and Dan Jevons of dj2 Entertainment, Todd Black of Escape Artists, Jason Blumenthal, Tony Shaw and others of Escape Artists.

Don't hold your breath for a while, but when it does appear, the film may be better than the original could have been. Beneath the uppercuts and often flashy spectacle, "Streets of Rage" is about a group of cops and citizens who team up to fight corruption in the city, and the criminal organization behind it. It's certainly no "Iliad," but it's a good action movie set-up, and the series' visual intensity and outlandish characters could prove suitable for the big screen.