'Street Fighter' Movie Lands At Legendary Pictures, Has Directors Chosen

Legendary Pictures has also secured TV rights

Legendary Entertainment has secured an exclusive license to live-action film and TV rights for the long-running and popular Capcom video game franchise Street Fighter. Not only is a film already in development, but they’ve progressed enough to have nearly chosen directors.

The Hollywood Reporter reports Australian twin filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou are in final negotiations to direct. Legendary hasn’t confirmed the news of course. The brothers actually originate from YouTube, with their channel RackaRacka full of horror and comedy content. Their first feature film, Talk To Me, received a lot of attention from Hollywood after it debuted at Sundance Film Festival. Attention that made them highly sought after by agencies for themselves and led to a seven-figure bidding war for the film with A24 as the victor. Talk To Me is about a young woman who conjures a spirit using to an embalmed hand.

Launched in 1987, Street Fighter has sold more than 49 million units worldwide, becoming one of the highest-grossing video game franchises of all time, with well-spread sequels over the 36 years, as well as special editions and remakes. 1991’s second installment was the first to offer choices of playable characters and fighting techniques. The next game in the franchise, Street Fighter 6, is slated for release on June 2, 2023, on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam. The latter three entries in the series were released after hiatuses of 11, 8, and 7 years respectively.

All film and television projects, including this film, are developed directly with Capcom’s direct involvement. This is the franchise’s third try at a film adaptation after all, following 1994’s film with Jean Claude Van Damme as Col. Guile and Raul Julia as M. Bison in a radical take on the material, and then there was 2009’s Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li with Kristin Kreuk in the role, with Neal McDonough and Michael Clarke Duncan among the film’s cast. The approach is no doubt following the lead of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which had strong Nintendo involvement and is headed towards earning $1 billion at the box office.

.Sources: Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter