The hadoukens will soon be flying again, as Legendary Entertainment has acquired the rights to the classic video game franchise Street Fighter, according to Deadline. The studio will reportedly get to work on a number of Street Fighter-related projects, including a live-action feature film that is currently in development.
Details on this upcoming film are slim. However, Legendary will collaborate directly with Street Fighter game developer Capcom on the project, which will additionally act as a co-producer. While no casting or production window has been reported, it seems that Legendary is moving full-steam ahead with the feature. However, that is not the only Street Fighter media on the horizon, as Legendary acquired not only the franchise's film rights but also television rights. While no TV series has been announced, it seems only natural that the studio would concurrently be working on adapting Street Fighter for the small screen as well.
One of the best-selling video game franchises of all time, Street Fighter is a beat-em-up style game that was originally developed for arcades in the 1980s. Since then, it has spawned numerous sequels and has sold more than 49 million units worldwide. The next installment in the franchise, Street Fighter 6, will be released on current and previous-generation consoles on June 2, 2023.
Hollywood has a long history with Street Fighter
This will not be the first time that Street Fighter has graced live-action screens, though, as Universal set up the film Street Fighter in 1994. Starring 1990s action hero Jean-Claude Van Damme as the iconic Street Fighter character Guile, the film also featured Ming-Na Wen, Damien Chapa, and Kylie Minogue. It was a moderate box office success, grossing nearly $100 million on a $35 million budget, but received mostly poor reviews and has not come to be well-regarded.
Since that installment, there have been numerous attempts to reboot the franchise for the big screen, and it has happened at least once. In 2009, 20th Century Fox released Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li starring Kristen Kreuk, Chris Klein, and Michael Clarke Duncan. However, the film was similarly panned by critics, and unlike the 1994 adaptation, recieved abysmal box office earnings. Numerous small-budget animated adaptations have also popped up over the years.
However, Legendary's acquisition marks the most promising update yet for a new Street Fighter film. A video game adaptation is not unprecedented for the studio, as Legendary has produced box office hits such as Detective Pikachu and Warcraft. The studio, which recently signed a distribution deal with Sony, also has a sequel to Detective Pikachu in development. With all of these updates, it is clearly shaping up to be a good year for Legendary, which also has the highly anticipated Dune: Part Two on its roster for a Nov. 3 release.
While video game adaptations have long been seen as a cursed medium in Hollywood, recent evidence shows that might be starting to change. Warcraft and Detective Pikachu are the first-and-second highest grossing game-based films of all time, respectively, and Paramount's Sonic the Hedgehog series has a third installment in the works. Universal and Illumination's The Super Mario Bros. Movie is also releasing on April 5 and is expected to be a box office hit.
The trailer for 1994's Street Fighter can be seen below: