Sega's next live-action movie? A fighting game that hasn't had a new entry in almost 30 years
Yeah, you know, that one!
Sega has another live-action movie on the way, but it's not Persona or anything you've likely heard of.
With superhero movies taking a little bit of a decline over the past couple of years, Hollywood has found a new well to dry up: video games. We've been seeing more and more adaptations in recent years, like The Last of Us, Fallout, and most recently, the incredibly awful Borderlands movie. Of course, one of the big ones that helped kick off the resurgence of video game films was 2020's Sonic the Hedgehog, a pretty good movie that made a lot of money. With its success came a sequel and a Knuckles spin-off show, and another film is due out this December, so clearly Sega is very happy with its live-action output. On top of that, Sega is also releasing a Yakuza TV series this coming October. And now, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter, its next live-action outing will be… uh, Eternal Champions?
I suspect that if you're like me and you're under the age of 35 this one probably won't be a title you're that familiar with, and I wouldn't blame you. Originally released in 1993 on the Sega Mega Drive, or Genesis for all you folks in the US, Eternal Champions was a fighting game made by Sega in an attempt to tap into Street Fighter 2 and Mortal Kombat's popularity. It sees different key figures throughout history pulled from their time by the titular Eternal Champion, each of whom were meant to die just before they were taken, offered the opportunity to take part in a tournament that will let them live on.
Definitely sounds like the plot of a fighting game, and is very obviously riffing off of both Street Fighter and in particular Mortal Kombat, but hey, the '90s were a wild time. It went on to receive one sequel and a couple of spin-offs, but there's been nothing else in almost 30 years, so it's an odd one to pull from.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, this film adaptation is being made by Skydance, and is being penned by Derek Connolly, whose credits include Jurassic World, Pokemon Detective Pikachu, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and the upcoming live-action Zelda movie. So, a bit of a mixed bag, but one that clearly leans towards video game movies.
Not much else has been shared about the film right now, so you'll just have to wait and see what becomes of it. Maybe if Sega is willing to pull from titles like this you'll still get your live-action Persona show or film. Maybe.