The box office flop that Borderland does not deter producers from the current trend of video game adaptations in Hollywood. In fact, The Hollywood Reporter has just revealed that there is a new live-action adaptation of the Sega video game Eternal Champions.
Industry veteran Derek Connolly, perhaps best known for his work on the Jurassic World Films, was reportedly commissioned to write the screenplay for Eternal Champions film for Skydance. Toru Nakahara, who oversaw the Sonic the Hedgehog films, will serve as one of the film’s producers. David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger will also produce for Skydance.
While video game adaptations have had success in recent years both on the big screen and through streaming, an adaptation of Eternal Champions is a bit of a mystery. First of all, it’s a pretty old game, released in 1993 for the Sega Genesis.
After the great success of Street Fighter II (1991) and Mortal Kombat (1992), Sega attempted to capitalize on the industry’s fighting game trend. However, the game attempted to differentiate itself by placing more emphasis on story and incorporating characters inspired by different time periods.
Plot details for the film have not been revealed yet, but the game’s story revolves around a god-like Eternal Champion who seeks to restore balance to the world with a martial arts tournament involving warriors from different eras of history. The game’s synopsis reads:
Nine of history’s greatest and most influential warriors have been wrongfully killed, and the future now stands on the brink of chaos. The Eternal Champion has summoned the souls of the Nine and pitted them against each other. The winner will be given a second chance to prevent their own death and restore balance to a desperate world.
Characters featured in the game include Larcen Tyler, a former burglar from 1920s Chicago; Midnight, a vampire-like mutant hiding out in Vietnam; Slash, a prehistoric hunter from 50,000 BC; RAX, an American cyber kickboxer from 2345 AD; and Shadow Yamato, a ninja assassin from modern-day Japan (1993 AD). As you can see, there’s no shortage of fascinating characters to bring to life on the big screen, although we don’t know how closely the film will stick to the game (see BorderlandFor example).
While the game enjoyed good sales and positive reception upon its release – enough to justify a sequel, a remake and two spin-offs – Eternal Champions The brand awareness of other fighting games like Street Fighter And Mortal Kombat. Of course, I’m sure it helps that these franchises have seen repeated releases over the years. In comparison, Eternal Champions was added to the Wii’s Virtual Console in 2007 and then integrated into the Sega Genesis Mini in 2019.
