After 25 years, the legendary game franchise, Street Fighter, is set to return to the big screen with a new theatrical film. The movie releases on October 16, 2026, and is directed by Kitao Sakurai (The Eric André Show) and stars Andrew Koji (Warrior, Snake Eyes, Bullet Train) and Noah Centineo (Black Adam, The Recruit, The Perfect Date) as main protagonists Ryu and Ken.
The development of the film began with Legendary Pictures’ purchase of the live-action film and television rights to the Street Fighter franchise in April 2023. The moment the rights were granted, the project began, making it the third live-action adaptation of the games after the poorly received installments of Street Fighter in 1994 and Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li in 2009. In the same month, twin directors Danny and Michael Phillippo (Talk To Me, RackaRacka) were in talks to direct the film, but later dropped out of the project to focus on their film Bring Her Back. The film was also originally scheduled for March of 2026, but had been delayed after its original distributor, Sony Pictures, lost the deal with Legendary. The production would then remain silent until Kitao Sakurai was announced as director in February 2025.
Casting had begun shortly after, with Noah Cetineo, Andrew Koji, Jason Momoa, and Joe ‘Roman Reigns’ Anoa’i in talks to join. They were later confirmed alongside new cast members Daniel ‘Orville Peck’ Pitout and Callina Liang, playing Vega and Chun-Li, respectively. Shortly afterwards, Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson III officially joined the cast of Balrog along with semi-controversial comedian Andrew Schulz as Dan Hibiki. In July of 2025, Cody Rhodes, Hirooki Goto, and Vidyut Jammwal joined the film as Guile, E. Honda, and Dhalism, respectively. Along with these three also came the casting of David Dastmalchian (Late Night with the Devil, Dune, Ant-Man) as the main villain, M. Bison, who was previously portrayed by the late Raúl Juliá in 1994 and by Neal McDonough in 2009. The cast has only grown, including the addition of the frequent collaborator of Sakurai, Eric André. Filming began in August 2025 and wrapped in November.
The first teaser was shown to audiences at the 2025 Game Awards and later posted on YouTube, where it was met with varied reactions. Many praised the trailer’s energetic style, with multiple outlets describing it as “martial arts mayhem,” “way over the top,” and “A shockingly fun dose of weird.”
Despite the wave of criticism, almost everyone agrees that this movie looks like dumb fun. As a wrestler and franchise super-fan, Simon Miller wrote, “It’s either going to be incredible or an absolute rollercoaster…which in spite of itself, becomes genuinely incredible.” When this movie comes out, I’m getting my ticket and turning my brain off, and I highly recommend that you do the same! I have a feeling that this film can join the pantheon of game adaptations made specifically for the fans. And sometimes, that and an all-star cast is all you need to make it big!
