Another Classic Sega Game Is Heading For A Big-Screen Adaptation

Highlights

Sega’s classic Genesis title, Eternal Champions, is finally getting a film adaptation after years of dormancy.
Screenwriter Derek Connolly, known for Detective Pikachu, Metal Gear Solid, and Jurassic World, will pen the screenplay.
The success of the Sonic the Hedgehog film franchise has paved the way for other Sega titles, like Eternal Champions, to be adapted.

Following a string of largely successful video game film adaptations, renowned gaming developer and publisher Sega has officially landed a writer for a film based on the classic Genesis title, Eternal Champions. This marks the first major development the franchise has seen in over a decade, where it has since remained dormant.

Eternal Champions was developed and published by Sega and made its debut at the end of 1993, an era that saw Sega foster their own premiere fighting franchise following the immense success of Capcom’s Street Fighter and Midway’s Mortal Kombat games. While Eternal Champions‘ initial success generated a sequel and two spin-off titles by 1996, the series was put on ice following Sega’s desire to instead push Virtua Fighter as the company’s flagship fighting franchise. Whatever momentum Eternal Champions had achieved soon dissipated and remained largely untouched — save for ports on the Virtual Console and Steam in 2008 and 2010, respectively — until video game adaptations began to take Hollywood by storm in recent years.

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As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, screenwriter Derek Connolly has been tapped to write the screenplay of a live-action Eternal Champions film for Skydance. Connolly is no stranger to video game adaptations, having worked on the scripts for Detective Pikachu and the forthcoming Metal Gear Solid and The Legend of Zelda films. Connolly has also received writing credits for his debut screenplay, the critically-acclaimed Safety Not Guaranteed, in addition to several major franchise films in the form of the Jurassic World trilogy, Kong: Skull Island, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Toru Nakahara, who oversaw the Sonic the Hedgehog film trilogy, will serve as a producer for the film.

While story details on the film are currently unknown, the original game’s story follows esteemed fighters who are plucked from the past, present, and future by a higher entity known as the Eternal Champion and pitted against each other in a tournament to determine the fated victor who will restore balance to the world. Those who are unsuccessful are sent back to their respective time, moments before their untimely demise.

The success of the Sonic the Hedgehog film franchise has likely served as a catalyst for other titles in the esteemed publisher’s library to receive a major adaptation, with the upcoming Like a Dragon: Yakuza television series set to premiere on Prime Video later this year. For Sonic‘s success to shake Eternal Champions out of its stasis is sure to be a resounding victory for fans of the classic game series. With this high-profile development ringing through the film industry, Sega will hopefully capture the renewed interest and develop a new and long overdue title in the Eternal Champions series.