Good news for fans of big video game brawls. Not only do you have Mortal Kombat II to look forward to on the big screen later this year, but another of gaming’s all-time-great fighters is about to level up for cinemas. Street Fighter is on the way, ready to bring Capcom’s outlandish side-scrolling punch-em-up to the movies, and it looks to be going all-out in bringing the games’ super-stylised world into a new medium. Check out the first trailer:
We’ve got Ryu and Chun-Li, Balrog and Guile, and a whole load of other beloved favourites. We have that culture-permeating ‘Perfect!’ sound effect. And, yes: we have a Hadouken! Street Fighter looks to be keeping all of the iconography intact in its translation to film form, since fidelity to video game source material seems to be of real import as Hollywood goes increasingly game-focused. Japanese-born American filmmaker Kitao Sakurai — previously behind prank comedy Bad Trip — is directing here, and seems to be bringing comedy as well as crazy fight moves. Previously, the film was to be helmed by the Philippou brothers, who exited prior to this iteration.
Sakurai has assembled a considerable cast – including Noah Centineo as Ken Masters, Andrew Koji as Ryu, and Callina Liang as Chun-Li, alongside the likes of David Dastmalchian, Eric André, 50 Cent, Jason Momoa, and WWE superstars Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns — to see his Street Fighter come out swinging. Sakurai has also co-written the screenplay alongside T. J. Fixman.
So, will Street Fighter deliver a box office K.O.? Can it go head-to-head with Mortal Kombat II for the prize of ultimate fighter movie? And when are cinemas going to go full Tekken? We’ll get at least some answers when Street Fighter hits cinemas on October 16.
