Following the news of a Street of Rage film adaptation from John Wick writer, Derek Kolstad, it has now emerged that developer Sloclap has partnered with Story Kitchen to adapt Sifu into a live-action feature film, with Kolstad attached to write the script. The news was broken by Deadline, but a release date for the adaptation has yet to be confirmed.
Described as “John Wick meets M. Night Syhalaman’s old” the upcoming film adaptation will reportedly stay true to Sifu’s infested revenge plot, in which the protagonist is resurrected each time he dies thanks to a magical talisman. It is also expected to follow the same story as the fighting game, based on a student of a martial arts school’s master, Sifu. Given Derek’s experience in highly-praised movies like John Wick and Nobody, Sifu has a cool nature to be turned into a live-action with some new touches from the producer and his partners at Story Kitchen.
Dmitri Johnson, Mike Goldberg, Dan Jevons, and Timothy Stevenson from Story Kitchen will produce alongside Derek Kolstad and Jeff Ludwig. If the movie tells the same story as the game, it should be set in modern-day China, where our protagonist seeks to avenge the murder of his master. As for Story Kitchen, the company was formed earlier this year by John Wick creator Derek Kolstad, Sonic the Hedgehog producer Dimitri Johson, and Mike Goldberg with amplification of “non-traditional intellectual property”. (via Deadline)
Sifu has received positive feedback from critics and players alike, and it is currently ranked in 83% of games scored on OpenCritic. The hand-to-hand beat’em up has also been nominated for the Best Fighting Game category at the Game Awards 2022. Besides that, Sifu has sold over 1 million copies in its first three weeks from release in February. Sloclap recently announced that the game will receive a free update by 2022, introducing the replay editor that allows players to camera angles, focus mode, and aperture to create action sequences. They will also have access to a catalogue of effects for players to add to their clips.
Derek Kolstad is also working on another adaptation, Streets of Rage, in partnership with Lionsgate and Sonic the Hedgehog producer Toru Nakahara. Derek’s partner from Story Kitchen, Dimitri Johnson, will produce the project alongside Dan Jevons from DJ2 Entertainment. But there is currently no release date for the adaptation of the ’90s hit fighting series.