MOVIE NEWS – One of the world’s most popular fighting game franchises, Street Fighter, is getting a new live-action adaptation. Developed by Legendary and Capcom and distributed by Paramount Pictures, the project did not have a smooth path to the screen, with director changes and extensive script rewrites delaying filming.

One of the world’s best-known fighting game franchises, Street Fighter, is getting a new live-action adaptation. The previous version starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Kylie Minogue did not meet with unanimous enthusiasm, so the new film has plenty to prove. Developed by Legendary and Capcom and distributed by Paramount Pictures, the project’s path was far from smooth: the studio acquired the film rights back in 2023, but shooting could only begin at the end of 2025 because of director changes and constant script rewrites.

The film was initially set to be directed by Australian twin brothers Danny and Michael Philippou, who broke through with the horror film Talk to Me, but they soon left the project because of scheduling conflicts, and Kitao Sakurai took over. The biggest challenge was shaping the story into its final form. Takayuki Nakayama, developer and director of the Street Fighter video game franchise, had been involved with the project from the beginning, and recently revealed that much of the two years since the rights were acquired had been spent helping rewrite the first script that landed on his desk, which was, to put it mildly, rather weak.

“I won’t sugarcoat it, the first draft I received was pretty rough and underdeveloped – probably exactly what people imagine when they think of a typical slapdash video game adaptation script,” Nakayama told Dark Horizons. He added that during the two-year rewriting process, the entire team worked to understand what truly makes the franchise function. They took the whole thing apart, put it back together, and by the end they felt the movie would finally work.

Set in 1993, the film follows two rival fighters, Ryu, played by Andrew Koji, and Ken Masters, played by Noah Centineo, who are recruited by the mysterious Chun-Li, played by Callina Liang, for the next World Warrior tournament. Behind the brutal championship lies a deadly conspiracy that forces the heroes not only to face each other, but also to fight the villains behind the scenes.

Street Fighter – release date: October 15, 2026.

Source: UIP Dunafilm